Wonderful   The childhood of SSnape
by millcityshaman
Summary: The title says it all  So Professor Snape what was your childhood like?  In that awsum Snape voice, dripping with sarcasm, Severus answered, Wonderful.
1. Preface and Raised Voices

Wonderful

Preface

1981

Everything had changed.

Everything was exactly the same.

"Look who it is."

"Creepy Creopan."

"What you reading, Creepy?"

"My, my name isn't Creepy."

He knew a day like this would come. He didn't think it would come this soon. September hadn't even changed to October. The new head of Slytherin House had expected the pranks that always went on between his house and Gryffindor House, but when one of his was singled out for special humiliation, it rankled. Snape thought that the Weasley boy might be different.

"Come on Bill," an older Gryffindor egged on. "Grab it."

The red headed boy tried to snatch a book out of the hands of another first year, a Slytherin who had been corralled by Gryffindors. The boy pulled the book close to his chest so the other one couldn't get it.

"Why you hiding your book, Creepy?" It was the older boy who taunted. "Don't just stand there Weasley, get it. Use the spell we showed you."

Bill didn't look like his heart was in it, but he also looked like he didn't want to go against his peers. He raised his wand calling out with a less than sure voice, _"Expelliarmus." _It sounded more like a question than a curse, but it worked. The book Creopan clutched flew into the air. Before any of the Gryffindors could catch it, a larger adult sized hand pulled it out of its flight.

"What do you think you are doing, Weasley?" The deep voice sent shivers down the Gryffindor boy's spines. They had not known the man for long, but the new potions master was quite an imposing figure.

Bill looked regretful, but Snape wasn't sure if it was because he felt bad for Creopan, or that a teacher had caught him. "Sir, I, I . . ."

"Don't know how to say no to your fellow Gryffindors?"

There was no answer from the petrified boy.

"Detention Weasley," Snape added. The professor looked around the group of boys. "And you Provo." He pointed to the third year boy who had been ordering Bill about. "The rest of you consider yourself lucky, and hope I don't catch you at it again. Get to your classes." The Gryffindors fled like water off a roof. The Slytherin boy wanted to run too, but Professor Snape had something of his.

"Sir," the boy spoke up. "My book."

Snape looked at the book expecting to see some volume dedicated to the dark arts. Instead, he read out what the title really was, "The Empire Strikes Back. Mr. Creopan, An adaptation of a Muggle movie?"

"I'm . . ." The boy looked as if he wanted to shrink into his robes. He gulped before explaining, "I'm half blood Sir. I live in Lancashire."

The older wizard's stomach lurched. This was sounding all too familiar.

"Chadderton, Sir."

The boy's answer made Snape relax a moment; No chance of running into the boy on holidays.

"Actually Sir, I only spend half the year there." For some reason, the boy felt safe opening up to the young teacher. "In the summer, I stay with my Mum in Salford."

That was too close to home. "Salford, Creopan?"

"You know where that is, Sir?"

"I've heard of it," the teacher evaded. Snape was not about to tell the boy he played on the other side of the river a decade earlier.

The boy kept talking as if he wanted to get something off of his chest. "My Mum and Dad have been divorced for three years. I have to live with the Muggles in the summer." An odd look crossed the boy's face. He was not sure of something. "But now that I'm here at Hogwarts, I can't imagine Dad would want me there the whole summer. My step-mum wouldn't mind." After this, the boy clammed up again.

"Listen Craig, it is Craig right?"

"Right." The boy nodded. He was sure he was about to get a lecture on bringing Muggle things to Hogwarts.

"If you think it would be bad for the Gryffindors to see what you were reading," Severus advised. "It will be nothing to what your fellow Slytherin would think."

"I'll get rid of it."

"Get rid of it? You misunderstand Mr. Creopan." Professor Snape took out his wand and transfigured the cover of the book so it read, The Dark Arts, a beginner's guide. Craig smiled when he saw what Snape had done. "Don't tell anyone." The boy nodded before the teacher added, "I believe we are now both late for first year double potions." Snape walked towards the potions dungeon with his little friend falling in behind, Craig's little legs working double time to keep up.

"Sir," Craig began talking again. "It's better once you've grown up right?"

Severus stopped in his tracks. What could he tell the kid? He wasn't sure if it was better once you'd grown up. It wasn't better for him. Not that being a kid had been all that great for him either. He ignored the boy and walked on. Creopan didn't seem to get the hint. He kept asking questions all the way down to potions. They were just outside the door to the classroom when he asked. "Professor? Professor Snape, what was your childhood like?"

His hand on the door, the twenty-one year old turned back to answer in his deep voice, dripping with sarcasm that the eleven year old didn't catch, "Wonderful."

**Lyrics: Wonderful by ever clear**

_**Hope my Mom and Dad will figure out why they get so mad**_

_**Hear them scream, I hear them fight say bad words that make me want to cry**_

_**I close my eyes when I go to bed and dream of angels who make me smile**_

_**I feel better when I hear them say everything will be wonderful someday**_

Chapter 1.

1966

Raised Voices

"What do you mean it's gone?" Eileen asked, still not believing what her husband had just told her.

"It's gone!" Tobias retorted; loudly. "What part of gone didn't you understand? Gone, as in lost."

"I understand the word gone," Eileen screeched. "What I want to know is where, and how?"

Toby Snape smiled in the sneering manner that would be one of the few traits his son would inherit from him. "I don't rightly remember it all." He looked intensely at his wife of seven years. "But I sure had fun. You remember what fun is, don't ya Ele?"

A whip of a wand sent a lamp flying towards Tobias' head. His reflexes were quick enough to catch it. "I'd be careful what you break around here. We might need to sell it."

This time Eileen physically made her way across the room to try to slap her husband. Her wrist was caught, and she was flung back. In the next room, the kitchen, sitting where he had been told to stay, Eileen and Tobias' son Severus could hear the thud when his mother tripped to the floor. He could also hear his father's cold laugh. "Serves you right . . . WITCH." His last word was meant as a swear. "I'm going to bed." Halfway up the stairs he turned back to remind, "Don't try any of that magic crap while I'm sleeping. Remember what I've got."

There was tap of his hand to a leather strap around his neck. That strap held two small stones shaped like long blunted triangles. To the wise, they might appear to be figures of people. Toby shook them in front of himself then stowed them back under his shirt. "Next to my heart."

At that point Eileen wanted nothing more than to send the creep hurling down the stairs. His threat stopped her. Eileen Prince Snape sat there on the floor of her family's home, a small brick cottage that had seen better days. It had been a small trifle in her father's holdings, now it was all she had left, that and her son. She heard a stir from the kitchen. Looking up she saw the boy clinging to the door jam. He looked as if he wanted to go out to her, but did not want to disobey being told to stay in the kitchen.

"Sev . . ." Eileen didn't even know what to say. What came forth was, "Everything is all right."

The boy could no longer obey. Next thing she knew her son was next to her. A hug and a head placed against hers gave some measure of comfort. It would have been more if the boy didn't have that ridiculous Snape nose in the middle of his face.

"It's not all right," Sev whispered. "Something's wrong with Dad. Why is he being so mean?"

Ele did not answer. She stood and ordered, "Up to bed with you, it's late."

"But Mum . . ." Sev was going to say that they hadn't had supper yet. He had a feeling this was going to be one of those days that had been occurring more frequently, one where there would be no supper. "Okay." The boy disappeared up the stairs.

"Ele Prince," Eileen said to herself. "What did you get yourself into?" She could only think what an idiot she had been. Her family was right. "No they're wrong. They have to be wrong." She moved over to a sofa. Her argument with herself lasted until sleep took her. In the morning Ele awoke to Toby trying to snuggle up to her. When she realized this, she shot up strait as a smoke stack and spat out, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to make up," Toby said in all earnestness. "I was messed up last night." He reached for her again.

She was having none of it. "Get off!"

Toby took a deep breath. "Could you at least get your husband some breakfast?" The look in Ele's black colored eyes was pure loathing. It was her shouting that woke Severus up.

"I WOULD IF MY HUSBAND HAD BRAUGHT SOME FOOD HOME WITH HIM!" There was the slamming of doors. The boy could not hear what his father said, but he could hear his mother cackle, "Fine go. Go hang out with your low life friends another day!"

Ele was sitting on the sofa again, head in her hands, trying to figure out what to do. She was too proud to ask her family for more help; Not that they would give it. They were still furious that she had married a Muggle. She didn't dare go to any of her friends in the wizarding world; they mustn't know how low she'd sunk. No, she'd have to look for Muggle work. Her new problem was what to do with . . . "Sev?" Ele was aware that her son was standing in front of her. She looked up.

The boy looked hopeful as he asked, "Are we going to do any magic lessons today?"

"Not today."

"You promised." Sev pouted.

"I can't. I have to . . ." Ele considered her son. He was resourceful even at this tender age. She couldn't bring herself to say she was going to work like a Muggle. Do things that in her father's house only a house elf would do. "Do you think you could keep yourself out of mischief for a day?" She felt lower than low thinking he could. How could he be left alone? Not even one of those before mentioned house elf to keep him safe.

"I could but . . ." At that moment Severus' stomach growled, making his point. Ele went into the kitchen, but it was not food she came back with. In her hand was a vile, filled with a substance. "Drink this." Sev obeyed implicitly. The small amount of liquid tasted nasty, but he no longer felt the pangs of hunger.

"A few more days, and we won't even have this," Ele explained. "I've no more supplies to brew more." The boy understood what his mother was telling him. "That's why I've got to go out today.

Sev nodded silently.

"Please, don't let any Muggle see you do magic."

The boy nodded again.

"I'll show you a new spell when I get back."

She was still intending to leave the boy alone in the house while she went to look for a Muggle job. How she yearned for a house elf. Deep down Severus didn't believe she would leave until she was at the door. "You're really going to leave?"

Ele was going to tell him it was only for a few hours. Looking down at her son's expectant eyes made her come to an ounce of sense. "I guess you could come with me, but you must behave."

The boy nodded once more. This time he had a huge smile on his face.

tbc


	2. Invisable Boy

Wonderful chapter 2

Invisible Boy

They walked. Toby had lost the car months before. Even after seven years, Eileen hadn't quite grasped everything in the Muggle world. She was almost afraid. If there were something dangerous, would she do something magical to protect herself and her son? If she did, and a Muggle saw, it would be bad. The greatest fear her world had was that the Muggles would find out about its existence. Sure, the few magical ones knew, but the majority of them were quite oblivious. She began to think she could make some money in the wizarding world by writing a tell all book entitled, 'So, I Married a Muggle.' She chuckled to herself.

Silent until then, Sev looked up and asked, "Mum, why is that funny?"

"Why is what funny?"

"The name of your book."

Ele stopped walking. She looked down at Sev thinking, 'They said he'd have _Legili_ potential. Didn't think it'd show up this soon.' To her son she said, "It's a grownup joke." Then she turned a bit, well, severe. "Stay out of Mummy's head!"

Severus took a few steps back. His face was paler than usual. He rarely saw this side of his mother. It scared him. He still obediently nodded. "Ye-e-s Mum." A small part of him would rather stick his tongue out at her. Then again, she might make said tongue disappear if he did.

They continued through the cobblestone alley to an area that wasn't quite as shabby as Spinner's End. The riverfront had markets, pubs, as well as other businesses.

"Where to start," Ele muttered to herself. "Where to start? " It just so happened that they were standing in front of a pub that bore an interesting placard.

"Look Mum, a snake." Sev pointed up to the pub's name. He read it out. "The Serpent's Tongue."

"That's a good sign," Eileen thought aloud. There was also a hand written 'help wanted' tucked in the window. "And a bit of luck." Too bad she didn't have that potion with her. It was too early for the establishment to be open. There were a few patrons from the night before left inside. Deliverymen were dropping off new supplies. Ele eyed the pub, unsure if it was a good idea. "Can't bring Sev in there." Ele had a habit of saying her thoughts aloud. She reached inside of the handbag she carried and pulled out a vile. Sev took a deep breath. He knew what it meant.

"Invisibility, Mum?"

"Just a little." The boy took a sip of the potion, and indeed, faded. "Stay near," Ele ordered as she shoved the vile back. "Don't touch anything." Being invisible kept his mother from seeing the deep burrowing frown on Severus' face.

'That's no fun,' the boy thought.

"Or anyone."

Eileen took a deep breath before opening the pub door. Inside she looked at the few people sleeping off the night before in booths, or slumped over tables. There was an older man cleaning up behind the bar. He saw Ele and called out, "Oi, we're not open."

"I know." Ele tiptoed past the passed out. She made her way through the debris, to the bar. "I wanted to inquire about your help wanted sign."

"I don't know, Miss.?"

"It's Mrs., Mrs. Snape. Eileen Snape." She held out her hand. The owner slowly reached across to shake it.

"I'm Joe," he informed before asking, "You Toby Snape's wife?"

"You know Toby?"

"Oh yeah, he's in here quite a bit." Joe looked as if he realized, maybe he shouldn't have said that.

Ele ignored this and asked, "You do need help?"

Something made Joe not want to answer. Eventually he did. "Yes, but I'm not sure you're right for it though."

"Why not?"

Joe gulped. He couldn't say what was on his mind. The invisible boy who had snuck behind the bar could 'hear' what the man was thinking: 'Oi, because that face would sour more ale than it'd sell.'

A pint glass 'fell' off of a shelf shattering near Joe's feet as he answered, "This establishment is a bit rough for a lady such as yourself."

"Look, I need a job. I'm good at, mixing things."

Joe thought about Tobias Snape. The man did tend to spend more money than he had with him. Joe knew they had a kid. But that face. Against his own judgment he said, "You can help clean and set up for tonight. Then we'll see if it might, might mind you, work out."

Ele smiled. Joe wasn't sure if that didn't make it worse. 'Good thing most of the patrons will be drunk.' Another glass 'fell.' "I better get that shelf fixed."

"Thank you, you won't regret this."

"Yeah, yeah, grab yourself an apron and a rag. Start on the tables."

Ele got to it. By this time, her son had gotten to the pub's dog that was sleeping behind the bar. None of the shattering glasses seemed to faze the lazy canine. Severus wanted to pat it, but remembered what his mother had said, "don't touch anything." The dog, being quite astute, knew the boy was squatting next to him. The dog began to lick the boy's face. It took a great deal of control for the boy not to giggle. Joe looked at his dog. All he could see was the animal licking thin air. "Better get Bengi to the vet soon," Joe reminded himself. "He's gone all loopy."


	3. Happy Once

Wonderful chapter 3

Happy Once

The morning that Eileen spent helping out at The Serpent's Tongue went quicker than she expected. It went even faster than Joe had ever remembered a morning passing in a long while. The hung over patrons seemed to revive sooner than he'd ever remembered. By eleven there seemed to be a different air in the pub. The normal gloom was somehow brightened. Joe noticed that, but not the song Ele had been humming as she wiped off tables, or polished and stacked glasses. Neither had he seen her waving a stick like object at the broken glasses and muttering, "Repairio." She wanted to scold her son for dropping them, as she knew he had, if not the reason why. "If you can hear me my little man," she whispered. To say his name would have broken the spell of the invisibility potion. "Find a quiet place to stay hid."

'Stay hid,' Severus thought. Hiding wasn't on his mind. 'I'm hungry.' His mother could not however read his mind. He would have to wait. When Ele was no longer behind the bar, the little boy decided to take the matter into his own hands, literally. Above where he had been sitting, hiding, the smell of peanuts had been wafting down all morning. 'I know they're up there.' An invisible hand reached up, he could just reach the edge of the bar. The boy managed to grab a handful out of the bowl. Those first ones tasted spectacular. By the fifth handful, he had quite a pile of shells sitting next to him. That was when Joe came back to get something. Severus sat very still. He hoped he had not been spotted.

Joe looked down at the floor and muttered, "Could have sworn she swept back here?" He looked at the bowl then to the floor and shook his head in a slight confusion. He grabbed the broom and swept up the shells. When Joe was going to the dustbin to throw out the shells, Sev reached up to nab more peanuts. This time however, the entire bowl fell to the ground. Cascades of shells hitting the floor echoed across the pub.

'Severus,' Eileen thought angrily. 'At least I know where you are.'

Shortly after the sound of falling peanuts, there was the sound of crunching peanuts. 'Severus.' Ele wondered if the boy could hear her silent reprimands. The crunching continued, the boy couldn't help but step on them as he tried to find a new hiding place. Joe, just returned from the back room had wondered, 'What is that noise?' He looked down the back bar, but only saw his dog, who had gone back to sleeping with the dumped over peanuts surrounding him. "There's something wired going on here," He pondered. He shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to pick up the scattered peanuts. All but the crushed ones went back in the wooden bowl. At first Joe thought he better dump them out; then he figured no one would notice the difference, so he plunked them back on the bar. While he was tossing out the crunched peanuts, a tiny invisible hand was trying to get at the rest once again. This time, there was a second where Joe turned and could have sworn he saw the bowl move on its own. "Definitely something weird." A glass was grabbed and a small amount of stout was draught. The pub owner slugged it down. With a shake of his head, he declared, "That's better. " Forgetting what he thought he just saw, the pub's owner went over to where his newest employee was cleaning. She was cleaning places that hadn't been cleaned in years. "Hey, there. Uh, Mrs. Snape." He had forgotten her first name. "I think I'd better settle up with you."

Ele looked up slightly confused. "Settle up?"

"You've worked for four hours," Joe pointed out. "I pay up after every shift."

"Are you telling me, I'm done?" Eileen looked disappointed. She thought she had done a good job. Yet Joe was telling her she was done.

Joe was perceptive, for a Muggle, and guessed what the woman might be thinking. "You do want to go home for lunch, right? I close up until four. Well actually we're technically closed up now, but I send everyone home at noon." Joe did tend to ramble. The pub owner reached into his pocket to take out a wad of cash. Eileen couldn't hide her disappointment that he only pealed off a few bills.

"I'm feeling generous today. I paid you for a couple of extra hours."

Ele looked at the Muggle money in her hand; three five pound notes. She had worked four hours and only had fifteen pounds to show for it. 'It's better than nothing,' she convinced herself.

"You'll make more tonight," Joe informed. "At night you'll make tips."

Had she heard right? He was asking her to come back and work that night. She smiled. Joe winced. 'I hope you get tips.'

"I guess it's time to go," Eileen said this extra loud so that her invisible son would hear. She didn't move until she felt something brush up against her leg.

"Right, I'll be back at, four." At the door she held it long enough for the invisible boy to go outside before her. "Go over to the ally," She whispered, as she walked quickly, as if she didn't want to be seen. Upon reaching the ally, finding it empty, she finally said out loud, "Severus." As soon as his name had been uttered, Sev reappeared. Ele was smiling at him. "You did well today. You could have done better but . . ." She didn't finish the lecture. He had done well. Ele held out her hand. "Come on." Sev took his mother's hand. She began walking fast. He almost couldn't keep up with her. He knew they were not heading back toward Spinner's End. The further away they got, the more curious he got.

"Where are we going Mum?"

"You'll see." She was using her 'happy' voice tone. Severus knew it had to be something good. He was right. "You remember this place?"

"Oh yes, Mum." Sev's face showed the joy that any kid's would while standing in front of an ice cream shop. "We haven't been here in a long time."

Without further words Ele pulled her son along with her inside. When they sat in a booth she said, "I know it's not a proper lunch, but we're going to celebrate."

"Celebrate?"

"Mummy's got a job."

That really didn't mean much to Severus, but if it meant he was going to get ice cream, that was something to celebrate.

The waitress came over with two glasses of water and silverware. The pale woman and her pale son took her, for a moment, aback. "Can I get you something?"

Ele ignored the odd look they were getting, and ordered, "Two hot fudge sundaes."

The girl went off to get the treat, thinking, 'Anything you say, Morticia.' Her mind was even easier to penetrate than Joe's had been, but the little boy didn't understand the comment of this Muggle. A few minutes later the confections were in front of them. Eileen wasn't sure which she enjoyed more, the taste of the treat, or watching her son enjoying his.

"Slow down Sev, you're going to choke."

In all innocence the boy asked, "Don't you have a potion for that?" He didn't mean to sound smarmy; it just seemed to be his natural tone. Severus thought his Mum had a potion for everything.

"Just slow down."

Halfway through hers, Eileen began to stir the ice cream rather than eat it. She was thinking of what she should buy before they stopped off at home. What did they need the most? She was also thinking of what was she going to do with Sev when she went back to The Serpent's Tongue. 'Maybe Tobias will watch him? Fat chance. If he's even home.' Then the worrying thought of what Toby would think of her having a job, and where it was, entered her mind. Maybe it would be best if Toby didn't know. She was taken out of her musing by the waitress bringing over the check.

"That'll be a pound."

Ele handed the waitress the fiver, and the girl went for change. When she came back it was with a one-pound and two fifty pence coins. Ele inquired, "Could I get two crowns for one of these?" She held out the fifty pence coin. The waitress seemed disappointed. It became obvious that she was only going to get twenty-five pence for a tip. She still did as asked. When Ele gave her one of the crowns on her return, the waitress took it begrudgingly. 'Way to break the bank, Morticia.'

There was an awkward moment as the odd woman and her child walked away. Severus, wanting to make sure the nice lady who had waited on them understood, told her, "My Mum's name isn't Morticia."


	4. Muggle Machine Magic

Wonderful chapter 4

Muggle Machine Magic

In the Wizarding world, the untapped talents of children often resulted in . . . mishaps; most being innocent if not humorous. On rare occasions, it could get serious. Eileen saw that she was going to have to teach her son how to block out the random thoughts of Muggles. On their way home, she told him, "Even if you do hear some of the thoughts that seep out of people, you don't need to act on them."

Severus rolled his eyes and replied, "Okay."

After running into a string of stores, mother and son made their way back home. It would not be long before they'd have to be going back to the Serpents Tongue. On seeing the little cottage at the end of Spinner's End, Eileen wasn't sure if she wanted Tobias to be home, or if she wished he wasn't. He was not home. The first thing Ele attended to was the bread, cheese, and fruit she had bought. That was not what Sev cared about. He wanted his mother to get out the other thing she had in the bag. It was a Muggle thing called a record; what's more, his Dad had the Muggle machine that played the plastic disc. As soon as they were in the door he had pleaded, "Mummy, can we play it?"

Ele wanted to do a few things first. "In a bit."

Sev's idea of what 'a bit' was was not that long. Once the food was put away, and a pear had been handed to him, he asked again, "Can we play it now Mum?"

Ele felt a bit tired, but she couldn't say no. "Go get the player, and plug it in."

The six year old scooted off like a fox chased by hounds. Going too fast made him slide past the staircase by a foot. A bite was taken out of the pear before little feet flew up the stairs to his parents' room. That was where the Muggle machine was kept. It being closed already made it easy for the boy to grab the handle, after stowing the pear between his teeth, as it would take both hands to carry it down. Sev managed to bring it to the living room and set the thing up. The only thing needed now was, "Mum!" Severus was so excited he was jumping out of his skin. "Mum, it's all set."

"Okay, okay," Ele called back from the kitchen. "A wizard must learn patients," she reminded while entering the living room. It wasn't the expectation of the record alone that had Sev so worked up. He forgot the piece of fruit he was eating. He knew that Eileen would add her 'special' touch. He remembered a long time ago, one of his first memories was both of his parents listening to records on the Muggle machine, his mother making a saxophone dance around from the end of her wand. He remembered that was before his father had gotten angry, when he didn't mind magic so much.

"Alright," Ele said as she took the record out of its paper sleeve. The record was put on the player, the needle put on it. From the scratchy monotone speaker came the song, 'Puff the Magic Dragon.' They had heard it once on another Muggle machine, a radio. Both mother and son were amused by it. This time, on their own record player, the music amused the boy again. The best part was that Ele used her wand to produce the image of a miniature dragon that flew about the room. It was green with silver polka dots; apparently, it was a Slytherin dragon. Little black eyes never left the tiny creature until the end of the song when it disappeared.

With a keen air about him the little wizard asked, "Again Mum?"

"I am a bit out of practice," Eileen marked. "It's nice to use magic again."

This time she used her wand to move the arm of the player to start the record again. When the music continued, not only was the tiny dragon produced, but the scenery as well. The sea, a little boy; with black eyes mind you, a boat with a billowing sail, pirate ships, and other such things until the lonely dragon went back into his cave at the end of the song.

"That part of the song is sad Mum." It was not a question that Severus had put forth but a statement. The boy had thought about it. "Why didn't the dragon's friend want to play with him anymore?"

'Oh dear,' Ele thought to herself. To her son she said, "There is one thing that is as sure as the rising of the sun. In the Wizarding world and in the Muggle world, people change." Eileen wasn't sure that Severus understood.

"Change?" The boy grew wistful. "Like Dad?"

Eileen took a deep breath. "Speaking of your father, you better go put his record player back upstairs. We're going to have to go soon."

"Can we play it one more time?"

"You can play it, but I'm going to take a break." Ele plopped down on a sofa. Instead of going to replay the record, Sev was at her side asking, "Can, can I try?"

"Try what?" It had not dawned on her what he meant.

"To make the dragon."

"You don't have a wand."

"Can I use yours?"

Ele hated saying no to her son, but this was something she couldn't give in on. "I'm sorry; you know you're only a little over half the age when a wizard is allowed to have a wand."

Severus was disappointed, but he knew she was right. 'Five more years,' he mused. Then he was satisfied to go and listen to the record one more time. He found that even without his mother's wand work, he could see the dragon in his own mind as the record spun around. In a way, the Muggle machine did have its own magic.


	5. First Spell

Wonderful ch. 5

First Spell

One more time listening to the record turned into two more times. Two more times turned into three. Halfway through the fourth time, the door opened.

"Hey Ele," came forth from Tobias' mouth. He seemed to be excited about something. "You won't believe . . ." He didn't finish the statement. What he had seemed so eager to tell his wife was pushed out of his mind for something else. Toby rounded on his son like a lion summing up its prey, then snarled, "Who told you, you could use that?"

Sev froze. The song still played in the background until Toby grabbed the record off of the player, waving it in the boy's face. "I've told you not to touch my stuff how many times boy?"

Sev tried to say something. Toby had frightened the words right out of him. Stammering words finally came out of the boy's mouth, "I, I, um."

The father mocked as he shut up the record player case, "I, I, um." He turned back to his son. "Speak up boy!"

"I'm sorry?"

"You sure are sorry." Toby picked up the record player by its handle. "Ya' little shite."

The little boy began to shake and sniffle.

"Go on cry. It could be your secret weapon, the deadly tears of doom. You'll be the scourge of the wizards, won't you?"

Afraid to even move, Severus didn't answer.

Toby kept badgering, "Won't you boy?"

Ele had come out of the kitchen, and saw Severus' state. Her eyes narrowed on her husband. "What did you do?"

"I'm keeping the brat in line. Messing with my things again."

"I told him he could use your stupid record player."

"After what he did to the radio? You want him to blow this up too?"

"That was an accident. That player is a piece of junk, being blown up might be an improvement."

From there the yelling went on, the two of them hashing and rehashing arguments old and new. As they did, the little boy on the other side of the room kept saying something that they didn't hear. "Stop . . ." They didn't. The bickering continued until Severus shouted at the top of his lungs, "STOP YELLING!"

This was a first.

Toby's rage turned back to his little boy. "Oh, so it can speak as well as blubber."

"Leave him alone," Eileen barked. "Geez Toby, you're not even drunk and you're being an ass."

They were off again. Squabbling ensued. What neither of them saw as they fought was that Severus had picked up Ele's wand. Despite his earlier agreement not to use it, it was aimed squarely at Tobias Snape. Ele saw it. "Sev no!"

Even as she said this Severus was saying something else, "Dadio-Donkius!"

Zap; Toby's nose turned into a donkey muzzle. His ears grew. The spell of an angry six year old wasn't powerful enough to produce a fully formed donkey, but the man's hands and feet turned to hooves. A tail grew out of the back of his pants. Toby went to say something like, 'Ele do something,' but all that came out was a braying, "Eeh-Haw." Hove hands covered his mouth in alarm. "Eeh-Haw."

"Severus," Ele said cautiously. "Lower the wand."

The boy did as his mother had said. He had stopped crying. With an eerie calmness Sev said, "You said he was an ass, now he is one."

Donkey Dad made a threatening move towards his son. Son raised wand again. Toby stopped in his tracks. With his new hooves he reached for something that hung around his neck. He manipulated the smaller of the amulets so he could smash it between the two hooves. Severus let out a shout of pain before collapsing to the floor. The wand fell from the tiny hand. Eileen ran over to find out the condition of her son. She felt the side of his face as it lay in her lap. The boy groaned. She turned to her husband. "You could have killed him doing that!"

The cursed man still brayed, but the witch could understand every word. "No great loss."

Now the wand was in Ele's hand.

"I wouldn't do that," Donkey Tobias brayed. He dangled the second charm. "Unless, you'd like to join our dear Sevy in the hospital."

Severus' parents remained in this magical Mexican stand off for what seemed an eternity, but was only a few minutes, until four people burst into the house; two from St. Mungo's, and two from the Ministry of Magic.

"Oh dear, what have we got here?"


	6. To the Rescue

Wonderful chapter 6

To the Rescue

Many things happened all at once. Two Emergency Magical Medical Technicians (E.M.M.T.s) from St. Mungo's went to see how the boy was. One of the Ministry men went to se the transformed muggle; the second went to talk to Eileen. "Would you mind lowering your wand lady?"

"Oh sorry," Ele muttered as she stowed her wand.

The Ministry man turned to the E.M.M.T.s to ask, "How's the boy?"

"Took a nasty squashing," the E.M.M.T said. "Very little magic used, looks like he'll be all right."

Sev was coming around as the other E.M.M.T. was casting ennervate spells over him. "Take a bit of this," she instructed. A healing potion in just the right size was given to the boy who drank it and was able to sit up. "That's better Lad."

The first Ministry man introduced himself, "I am inspector Hyqual of the department of improper use of Magic." He then indicated to the younger one who had been looking over Toby. "This is jr. inspector Gast."

Gast then asked, "Who done this to ya' then?" A hoof was pointed in Severus' direction. Snickers were heard all round. "Explains the irregularity of the spell." Gast then tried to undo the spell with several of his own.

"Let me give it a go," Hyqual said waving his wand a Toby. "This is going to be tougher than I thought. Nipper must have really been peeved at you."

More words and more wand waves were commenced. Despite all of this Tobias Snape was still, an ass.

"I think," Hyqual accessed. "The boy is going to have to undo it." He turned back to Severus who was now on his feet.

"Good as new," the E.M.M.T. said.

Hyqual spoke to Sev. "Now young man - - " He turned to Gast to relay, "Gee he really is underage." He turned back to Sev. "You ready to turn Daddy back?"

"No," Severus said with defiant flatness.

"Right then." Hyqual was going to be playing the bad cop. "I guess we'll be taking you off to Azkaban then."

Ele knew the man was trying to scare her son; it worked.

"Azkaban." Worry floated in Severus' voice.

"Yhea, we have a special section just for naughty little wizards as yourself."

Gast added the coup d'état. "With tiny little dementors and all."

"Say good-buy to your mum."

"I'll turn him back!" Sev shrieked. "I'll turn him back."

"That's better then."

"But I don't know how."

A tiny card was thrust into the boy's hand. "You read yet?"

Sev nodded. "A little."

"I think that spell will work. You just read it and cast the spell."

Severus looked at the card. At first it was blank. Then words appeared. He flitted it between the fingers of both hands. He could feel the magic of it. Finally he read in a monotone voice, "Dadio-Normaloso." Nothing happened. Sev continued to flip the card.

Gast and Hyqual looked at each other. Expressions indicating trouble crossed their faces. "Might have to call in a specialist for this one."

Ele interjected, "Sev, you have to mean it when you say the spell."

The boy took a deep breath and tried again with a bit more enthusiasm. Nothing happened.

"What we gonna do?" Gast pondered aloud. "The boy cast the spell, the boy has to break it."

"I," Sev now interrupted. "I could do it with a wand."

"A wand," Gast chortled. "You're too young for a wand."

"But that's how I did it."

The two Ministry men grew serious. Hyqual solicited, "Where did you get a wand?"

Eileen knew it would come out in the end so she told them, "He used mine." The men looked crossly at Ele. "He picked it up and - - "

"You leave your wand laying about so-s that any little wizard can pick it up?" Gast was aghast.

With a wince Ele countered, "Not normally."

"All it takes is one time," Hyqual scolded.

"Imagine if he knew some bad curses?" Gast shivered. "It could have been real ugly."

Annoyance floated over Ele. "You think I don't know that? Do you want me to give him the wand or not?"

"Unless you wish your husband to remain in such a state," Gast said. "It would be a good idea."

The witch handed her son the wand. The Ministry men took theirs out. "Just a precaution."

Sev fiddled with the wand. He wasn't sure he wanted his 'normal' Dad back. That one had been awful lately. He wished he had a spell to make his father nice again. Ele had told him over and over in his magic lessons, 'Not everything can be solved with a spell.'

"Go on Lad," Hyqual encouraged. "Reverse the spell."

"Dadio-Normaloso." It had not been said with much passion, but it worked. Hooves, tail, and ears receded to their normal state. Even the snout went back. Hyqual still asked, "Sir, your nose always that big?"

Toby affirmed through gritted teeth, "Yes."

"Oh, then it has worked."

"Then you can go."

"Not just yet.

tbc


	7. Conciliation

Wonderful chapter 7

Conciliation?

Hyqual grabbed the strap around Toby's neck and snapped off the two amulets. "I don't know what witch or wizard would give this to a muggle, but it is going to the ministry."

"I need that." Toby was pointing. To protect myself from those two."

"Your son and your wife?"

"You saw what happened tonight."

Hyqual turned to Ele. "He has a bit of a point." He held out his hand. "Ninety day wand suspension." Ele reluctantly handed it over. Then the inspector cast protecting spells over all of them; One that prevented any of the three from harming each other. "This is only a temporary charm."

"Listen Mr.Snape," Gast now added. "You married a witch and have a child. You've got to expect this sort of thing. You're fairly lucky. Most of these domestic situations involve a kid casting some pretty nasty spells on places of ones body I'd not like to mention. That's usually a teenager, you're lucky he's only a sprout."

"And you young man," Hyqual spoke again. "You had best remember your age and not do any spells like this until you're in school. Not here in the middle of muggle territory."

Severus appeared sufficiently scared. The two men had painted a dreary enough picture of the prison and it's dememtor guards.

"A report will be made," Gast informed. "If you attract the attention of the muggle police, there will be a big problem."

It seems that no one needs a trip to St.Mungo's." Hyqual was summing up. "Everyone's calmed down?"

Ele nodded, Severus nodded, Toby still looked a bit perturbed. "We're all done here."

The E.M.M.T.s left first. Before leaving Hyqual threatened, "I'm warning you mate." He pointed his wand in Toby's face. "You lay a hand on either one of them, and we'll be back, and not as nice. Why she don't toss you out on your rear, I don't know." He then made a threatening move. Toby flinched, but no spell came forth. Hyqual left.

Gast sneered at Toby and muttered, "Nasty muggle." Then he was gone.

Incredibly, Toby's mood changed. "I guess I deserved this. 

"Ha!" Ele sputtered.

"You know how I get."

Ele was still giving him s look that would shred if it were a curse.

"I uh, here." Toby shoved some muggle money into Ele's hand. "I won today." Toby got excited again.  
I might win even bigger tonight."

"Tonight?"

"I parlayed most of what I won - - "

"You parlayed it." If steam could come out of her ears it would. She wanted to slap him and say, 'parley that!' She didn't. "I need you to stay home and watch Sev tonight."

On hearing this, Severus' heart beat quicker.

"Why?"

"I have an honest job."

"Who told you you could - - "

"Don't you dare." Ele's look was enough to stop his protest.

"All right."

"And I mean watch him Toby. Not get drunk ass and ignore him."

"Right. Don't want those two coming back here anyway."

Severus' eyes seemed to be pleading with his mother not to leave him with his father. To him it was worse than when she wanted to leave him alone earlier.

"It will be all right Sev. The charm will keep him from hurting you." Ele being so thick skinned because of her own father's beratements didn't bother to think that Toby could 'hurt' Sev with something other than his hands or feet. He could hurt the boy just as much with his words. Even if they were not magic spells, Toby's words had power in them. It hurt the muggle part of her son. She seemed to forget that he had that part of him. "There's some food in the kitchen, make sure he eats later."

When Ele left a few minutes later the two Snape men folk stood still, watching each other for a few more.

"Well," Toby nervously said. In an attempt to apologize he asked, "Why don't we play your record there then?"

"No," Sev said in a mope. "I heard it enough today."

"All right then, I'll tell you what. I'll get out the old football and we can kick it about outside."

Toby was sure Severus would not want to, so he'd have an out. He could then suggest something the boy could do on his own. Reluctantly Sev actually said, "Okay." He was confused. The three of them had just nearly killed each other and now he was supposed to go play soccer with his Dad, like nothing had happened. "That'd be - - fun." He hoped.

The year before, when they were still a somewhat normal family. Toby had tried to show his son the ins and outs of the muggle game, but Sev wasn't very good at it. St the time Toby had said, "It's okay, you're only five yet." In the year since Toby changed and forgot all about, "Trying again next summer." Now it was fall and Sev was almost seven. Surly he'd improved.

Toby found the soccer ball. It wasn't that shabby. It hadn't been used that much. They went out to the cobblestone street in front of the last cottage on Spinner's End. Tobias began kicking the ball around, not passing it to his son. He shot it up to his knee and bounced it several times. Apparently at one time he'd been good at something.

"Let me try Dad," Sev called out.

Toby kicked it. To his surprise and satisfaction Severus stopped the ball without falling over. The boy flitted the ball up to his knee to bounce it up in the air. Instead he bounced it into his own face. "OWCH!" Sev grabbed his nose. The ball fell to the ground with a thud.

Toby tried to be fatherly. "That's all right. Try again."

Sev bucked up and flipped the ball into the air again. This time he bounced it on his knee several times before he lost his balance and fell on his butt.

"You're not supposed to fall." The insult had not come from Toby, but from one of the nationhood boys. A few of them had been attracted by the ball playing.

"I didn't fall on purpose," Sev informed.

Another of the boys asked, "Can we play?"

Sev shot back, "NO!'

"Sev," Toby rebuked. "These lads want to play and be friends."

'Friends?' Sev recognized some of them as a gang that had chased him on more than one occasion. 'They only want the ball.'

To his son's great consternation, Toby told the boys they could play. There were no teams just the boys scrapping for the ball. Severus spent a good amount of time chasing the ball, just never getting to it before one of the others did. None of the others were any older than Sev, but they all looked well fed. It did not take long to wear him out. Toby actually noticed. "You tired Sev?"

The boy wouldn't say he was. It was obvious. "Why don't we make you the goalie?"

"What's that?" Severus was in seriousness. He had no clue what a 'goalie' was.

"You keep the ball from going in the net."

"What net?"

Toby looked around. "Look, you stand in front of the stairs and keep the other lads from kicking it past."

Sev nodded and took up his new charge. He was sure it would be easy. Sadly the first ball kicked in his direction was hit really hard by the biggest of the boys. Toby's son did stop the ball; he stopped it with his face while falling back over the brick steps. He wasn't sure what hurt more, his nose or his elbows.

"You're not supposed to stop it with your face," the boy who had told him he wasn't supposed to fall down before put in.

"I didn't do it on purpose," was becoming Severus' rally cry. After a few more of these mishaps Toby said, "Maybe you should sit out a bit."

Toby continued to teach the nationhood boys how to play soccer as his own son sat on the porch watching. He didn't even notice when Severus disappeared inside to find something to read. His mother's magic books were all out of reach, on purpose. The one book that wasn't a muggle book Ele had left in her son's reach. It was an illustrated copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, fairy tales for Wizard children. He lay on the floor and began reading all of the Babbitty Rabbitty stories. His favorite part was making the drawings of the trickster witch move. None of those boys outside could do that.

tbc


	8. Black owl

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am working on this chapter. Been working on other stories and a later chapter of this. Plus real life work isn't helping with getting it typed up. I am going to post part of this chapter now and come back later and put the whole up.

THIS IS ONLY A PEEK AT THE CHAPTER

Wonderful chapter 8

Black Owl

It had been on the roof, waiting. Given strict orders not to be seen by muggles, the black owl waited for the coast to be clear. Inside, Severus had a feeling something magical had been lurking. When the suspicion did not leave him, he went to look. The boy opened the door and peeked up. Excitement spread all over him when he saw the bird. A whisper escaped his lips, "Hogwarts?" It couldn't be. That owl wouldn't be coming for many years yet. The boy realized that the other kids still kicking the soccer ball around with his father were keeping the owl from delivering its message. Despite all that had happened earlier, Sev knew he could do something to lend a hand in getting rid of them. It was a simple spell performed by the unsophisticated magic of an underage wizard. He looked up to the sky and merely made a wish. "I wish it would rain." As requested, a light drizzle began to fall. This didn't seem to deter the players. Sev closed his eyes adding, "Harder."

Above the makeshift game, a rumble of thunder rolled and the rain picked up. When one of the neighbor boys slid on the stone street, Toby told them, "You best be getting home now lads."

Just as the last of the muggle boys melted away from the cul-de-sac, the owl flapped its wings as if it was about to swoop down on its target. Then another Muggle joined the man. Stone looked like a man one would not want to meet in a dark alley. In fact Tobias was not happy to see him. "Toby Snape," Stone greeted in a gravelly voice. "Sober so late in the day, I'm shocked. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised to find that you have my money?"

Toby turned pale. "I have two more days." Nervously he scanned up the narrow roadway that led away from the cottage. He couldn't see Stone's thugs, but he had a feeling that they couldn't be more than a whistle away.

"Meaning you don't have it?"

"Not at the moment."

"Burnman tells me you won big this morning."

"If you're so well informed, he should have told you that I put most of what I won on another."

The man Stone shook his head. "You had enough to pay me off, and you parleyed it? I thought you were smarter than that."

"I have two more days." Toby was trying to hide the fear in his voice.

Severus was wondering whom this person that his father seemed to be afraid of was; and he knew that Tobias was afraid. Fear oozed off of Toby. Sev's unfocused childhood magical senses were strong. From his father's mind he saw a flash of being hit by a group of men while the one called Stone watched. Was this a memory, or a fear of what might come in the future? That he was too young to distinguish.

"You had better hope your luck holds out Snape." Stone let something he'd been hiding up the sleeve of his leather coat slide down to his hand. "Here's something on account." The blow came quick and unexpectedly. It knocked Toby to the ground. In spite of all of Toby's own bad behavior, it shocked his son to see this. "DAD!" The boy shouted and ran from the door jam. Stone looked down at Toby down on the stoop. His hand now covering the gash where the small metal bar had hit his head; a small amount of blood was running through his fingers. He saw the child kneeling next to Toby look up at the thug. Through the rain he could see the boy's black eyes narrowing. A small bolt of lightning hit the bricks near where Stone stood. If he didn't know any better, he'd of thought that the boy had made it happen. "I'll be back in two days. If you actually get the money tonight, I suggest you find me first."

WILL COME BACK AND PUT WHOLE CHAPTER HERE SOMETIME THIS WEEKEND


	9. Black Owl con't

_Sorry about the wait, and shortness._

Wonderful chapter 8.5

The bookie/thug now out of sight, Toby turned to Sev. "What are you looking at?" The question was rhetorical. "Make yourself useful, go get a towel or something." Without hesitation the boy darted back inside to do what he had been told. Little feet went as fast as they could to find a dirty rag in the kitchen. As he was about to run back outside he thought of something. 'Mum has her potions in here.' Hadn't she used them to stop him from bleeding when he had slipped with a knife or scraped a knee? Severus thought to himself, 'Maybe one could help Dad.'

He looked in his mother's private stock of homebrews looking for the one that stopped bleeding. He remembered the color and shape of the bottle it was in. The only problem was that out of the thirty or so that were there, three of them had that same appearance. Even at his young age Sev knew there were such things a labels. Apparently Eileen didn't endorse them. Her son grabbed all three to bring outside. The rag was snatched immediately out of the boy's hand. Sev juggled the three potion bottles so they wouldn't fall. They still made a clanking sound.

"What's that?" Toby asked as he dabbed his wound with the rag. "Some of your mother's junk?"

Sev nodded. He was smart enough not to back talk Toby at this moment. He wanted to tell him it wasn't junk.

"What's it do?"

Timidly Severus answered, "Stops bleeding."

Tobias pulled away one of the small bottles. Sev tried to warn him, "Dad - - " before he could finish saying, " - - I'm not sure that's - - " Toby had splashed some of it on the gash. " - - right one."

A wail that could have probably been heard all the way down to the river arose from the senior Snape. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO YOU LITTLE DEMON?"

Severus stood there frozen by the screech.

" I - - I tried to tell you I didn't know which one it was."

Toby had been snarling the entire time. Through his clenched teeth he asked, "You expect me to believe that?"

Severus knew by experience that this was when he could expect Tobias to explode, so he dropped the other two potion bottles. He ran for the door closing it just in time for his father to ram into it. As Toby grabbed the handle, Sev managed to lock it. A fist pounded on the outside side of the door. "You open this door right now Severus Snape!" This was followed by thee body slams before Toby remembered he had a key. When Sev heard the key in the door he panicked trying to think of a locking spell. He mulled over a few possibilities, "Lockieo? Blockiadus? Keepyouty?" The door opened. "OH CRAP!"

Absolutely positive that he did not want his father to catch him, Severus acted on instinct. He knew the back door was bolted tight because of numerous break-ins that happened in that neighborhood. For some reason he associated escape with his room. So that is where he ran. Toby ran after him. Sev didn't even attempt to close the door. All he could do was try and hide in the furthest corner. A fist was raised, but the ministry wizards' charm kept it from hitting the boy. As soon as it got anywhere in the vicinity of his son, it would bounce away.

"Damn Wizards!" Toby snarled. "You gave me that junk on purpose!" Toby accused as he stood over the boy cowering in the shadows.

"I didn't," Sev defended. "I didn't know which one was the right one. I wanted to help."

"Help? The only way you could help me was if you disappeared, or weren't born at all."

That was it, the thing that was worse than any punch, kick, or wrenched arm. Those words. If Toby had wanted to hurt his son for hurting him, he had done well. The words bore into the boy's heart. Made him think something was wrong with him. Dads weren't supposed to hate their children. Severus was convinced that his father hated him. In the boy's mind it was not because Toby was the drunk looser sack of shit he'd become, it was because he, Sev, was useless, worthless, a waste of space, stupid, and all other manner of things his father had called him over the last year. Being still young, he did not yell back or degrade his father in return the way he would when he was a teen, Severus cried. It was a convulsive cry, deep and aching; a cry from his soul. Uncontrollable flashes of magic were bursting forth but the protective charm kept it from harming Toby just as it had kept Toby from hitting Severus. The magic only disintegrated.

Instead of sympathizing or having some sense of empathy, Tobias seemed to not understand the fact that his son was only six. It was as if something in his brain could not see Severus as a child. He grew even more disgusted with the fact that the kid was crying. He still had one more dig, "Thought you were a wizard, but you're a wanker."

Severus continued to cry for quite a while not even realizing his father had gone, leaving him alone. When he was all cried out, he remembered what had been outside. The owl, the black owl; would it still be there? Would it deliver a letter saying he'd be delivered from his rotten muggle father? The young wizard opened his window to look for the magical delivery bird.

tbc


	10. Soul Patrol

Wonderful Chapter 10

Soul Patrol

"Here owly owl," Severus called out. As any good owl would 'Mid-knight' flew right for the window. The boy got out of the way just in time.

"Oi your big," Sev commented. Mid-knight was a rather large owl. There was a letter in his beak. The correspondence was addressed to his mother, but Sev didn't want to wait. "Let me have it." The owl shook its head. "That's addressed to my Mum, and she is not here. So please give it to me." The owl shook again. "Please." Even the magic word was no good. Severus closed his eyes trying to see if he could find out something about the owl. He could hear a fain voice saying, _'I am the owl Mid-Knight. I belong to the great an honorable wizard Radu Prince's family. I am in the service of Irmaguard Prince at the present time. And no matter who you are little wizard, I will not give you this letter.'_

"Stupid owl."

Mid-knight flapped his huge wings. Before he could continue to try and persuade the owl to give him the letter, he heard a sound he'd only heard a few times, but knew well what it was, the sound of someone aspirating. There was a flash of light, then a very, Very, VERY old witch was standing in the room. She was of a stout build. She wore a dress of black velvet and lace that came form a century past.

Severus took a few steps back as he asked, "Who - - who are you?" The boy felt as if the woman were reaching into his mind. "You're - - you're a witch like Mummy."

"I am your great aunt Irmaguard," the hag answered. "And it looks like I've arrived just in time."

"In time for what?"

Anyone seeing the tear-streaked face of the boy would have known what.

"Where is your mother?"

Severus didn't know if he should tell. What if this witch was lying? What if she were no more related to him than the muggles across the street?

"Mid-knight," Irma snapped. "Did you deliver the letter?"

Mid-knight flapped his wings.

"It would have been alright. It was the muggle I didn't want to have it." Irma reached up to take the letter out of Mid-knight's beak. Then he hooted.

"You have a point. Still he is a wizard, and the blood of our family runs in his veins. I dare say it would have been safe to give it to the boy."

So there!" Severus put in. He was sporting a crunched up face towards the owl. "I tried to get him to give it to me."

Irmaguard could feel there was more to the anger she felt wafting off of the boy. There was nothing wrong with anger, it was sometimes justifiable, but at his age, a wizard should be learning to control it. As she said with her other grand nephews and nieces, 'One can never start too young.' Not actually having children of her own made her not understand the problem of that statement. Children have ways of their own.

Severus piped up with the question, "Who is Ragu?"

A horrified look jumped onto Irma's face. "It is Radu, with a d dear. He's my brother, your grandfather, and by all that is sacred, don't ever slip and call him what you just did."

"My grandfather - - " Sev wondered at this.

"Hasn't your mother told you about us?"

"Not much," Sev admitted.

"You still haven't told me where she is." Irma waited. "I do have ways of finding out."

"Think so?" The little wizard dared her to try.

A wand came out, and there was a shout of "Ligittmentus!" This time the feeling she was in his mind was twice as strong. Even though this time he was prepared his kid defenses were no match for a witch of a century and a half. "Not bad for one so young."

"Not good enough," Sev growled.

To herself she muttered, "So Ele is working like a common muggle, oh well." To Sev she inquired, "Is he as bad as what I saw?"

Severus shrank but still answered, he knew which memory she'd seen. "Tonight was the worst.

"In the wizarding world - - " She strode back in forth putting the tips of her fingers together and pulling them apart repeatedly together as if making her own rhythm. "The fragmenting of a child's soul is not looked upon favorably. A piece of yours has gone missing thanks to that filthy mud-blood."

The boy looked worried. "A part of MY soul? Missing?"

"Don't worry luv, Auntie can get it back. It hasn't been gone too long. It shouldn't be too far."

With that Irma plopped down onto the floor. She sat crossed legged in a way no one would have imagined a lady of her time and age would ever do. With her right hand she began tapping out a rhythm on the wooden floor. It was a simple pattern that repeated itself, yet each time it had individual nuances. She herself began to sway in a manner that reminded Sev of a snake. This went on for quite a while. Severus had no idea what Irma was doing.

Suddenly the old witch stood and approached the boy who had sat some time during the middle of her trance. She was now holding her hands almost together forming a containing shape. Inside of her hands Sev could see a glowing round thing the size of a gob-stone. She took the light with both hands and shoved it into the boy's chest. It wasn't easy to work it back in. To help it along, she sang-chanted a spell of healing.

Her eyes opened. "Back where it belongs." Yes that part of Severus' soul was back where it belonged, but there was something the sorceress didn't tell the boy. Though it was back, that little piece of his soul would never quite be the same. There would always be something slightly corruptible in that tiny corner of Severus Snape's soul.

Severus felt dizzy. He felt compelled to continue humming the song that Irma had been chanting.

"You remember it do you?" The boy nodded to Irma's question. "It's in your blood. That song spell goes back to the days of the ancient magicians. You come from a long line of healers and counter spell casters little one."

"I do?"

"Ones who look into the dark, unafraid, because they know how to fight back." The old witch began to sing again. The song sunk into Severus' entire body bringing peace and sleep. Irma placed her grand nephew on his bed and tucked him in. "Sleep Severus Snape, sleep. Remember you are a Prince."

tbc


	11. 160 Year Old    Maiden

_Hey, thanks to everyone reading this, hope you like the rest._

Wonderful chapter 11

160 Year Old - - Maiden

While the youngest wizard of her family slept, Irmaguard was going to find her niece. She aspirated to the ally near The Serpent's Tongue. The only being around to see the witch appear was one of the river rats that dwelled there. "Disgusting." Old Miss. Prince tiptoed across the cobblestones trying to avoid stepping in any filth that might be in the street. Through the windows of the pub she could see Eileen mixing drinks for the few remaining customers. It was nearly to closing time after all. "That a girl Ele." It wasn't the working the aunt was proud of; it was what she figured out what Ele was doing. "These muggles seem too happy just to be drinking alcohol." Irma thought that happy muggles were muggles that were less likely to be ones that were trying to prove that the wizarding world existed, ones that would leave them alone. Mrs. Snape had to be slipping them little nips of potions with their ale.

Walking into the pub dressed as she was, in fashion circa 1830, Irmaguard was quite a sight for muggles of 1966. The impression she gave was as if she was that of an old matriarch of an Austin or Bronte novel who had just stepped off the pages. Her attitude was anything but matronly. She marched strait up to the bar to confront her niece. "This is what you're doing instead of taking care of your boy?"

"Good to see you as well Auntie," Ele jabbed back. "You need money to take care of a child. Since your brother has cut us off, I'm taking matters into my own hands."

The pub was almost empty so they could talk freely.

"Your dowry was enough for any two people and one child to live in that house for decades, you've managed to fritter it away in a matter of years."

"I had some help."

"Wish you'd listened to me now?"

"No."

"You can honestly tell me, you're happy?"

"I didn't say I was happy, I said I don't wish I'd of listened to you."

Irmaguard's right eyebrow went north in an expression of perplexity.

Ele made herself clear. "If I'd of listened to you - - I wouldn't have Sevvy."

Accepting the fact that she had been trumped, Irma jumped up on one of the stools and slapped a gold coin on the bar. "Butter beer my dear."

"Auntie!" Ele quickly hid the wizard money. "You can't use that here, and we don't serve butter beer." She flipped a pint glass and drew some Guinness. "Try this."

A large gulp later Irma was commenting, "That's got a kick, don't it?" After another long sip she said. "Oh Ele, I'm sorry I scolded you."

"It's all right. I know what a chance you're taking to come here."

"I can do as I like, I'm a hundred and sixty you know." The proud woman sat up strait.

"So my father knows you're here?"

"Noooo, not exactly." Irma took another gulp of stout.

Self-satisfaction was all over Ele's face. "Then why did you take the chance? Wouldn't want you to end up penniless at your age. Might have to come live with us."

A shiver ran throughout Irmaguard's entire body. Her face contorted. "I'd sleep in a gutter on Knockturn Alley before I'd live here."

The pub owner, Ele's new boss, Joe came out of the back room with a box of whiskey to replace what had been served that night. One sight of Irmaguard made him wonder if he hadn't had too many of his own wares that night. He shook his head, but the vision didn't go away. "Oi Mrs. Snape, 'hoes the fairy god mother?"

"This is my Aunt."

"She an actress?"

Not sure what to say, Ele told the truth. "No."

"Come from a fancy dress ball then?"

This time she lied. "Yes, that's it. I haven't seen her in a while, so if I could leave a little early?"

"Sure sure. It's almost done here." Joe handed Ele a wad of cash, her pay and her tips for the night. "See you tomorrow afternoon 'round four?"

"Right."

Ele pulled Irma off the barstool. "Wait," the old lady protested. Ele let go of her aunt's arm. Irma drained the rest of her drink. "Now we can go."

Arm in arm the two witches left the pub. Quietly they walked until they were sure there were no muggles around. Down by the river in a grove of trees, aunt and niece hugged each other warmly. It had been shortly after the wedding when they had seen each other last. Tears were let loose. "I've missed you Auntie."

"I've missed you luv." After a while they broke apart, still sniffling. "You - - you should come back with me. If it's just you and the boy Radu will - - "

"No Auntie. As much as I miss everyone, I won't put my son through that."

"What, growing up somewhere he doesn't have to hide what he is? How dreadful?" Maybe some of Sev's sarcasm was genetic.

"Here or there, there's always going to be some part of himself my son will have to hide. His cousins calling him a mudblood, and letting him know no matter what he does he'll always be inferior in their eyes."

"Should have thought of that before you screwed the muggle."

"Auntie!"

"Sorry."

Ele continued. "I don't want him growing listening to his grandfather yelling at him for being a 'filthy' half-blood a hundred times a day.

"Is that any worse than what his own father calls him? Calling him that disgusting word boys his age don't even understand let alone shouldn't hear. Who knows what the dirt bag would have done to the boy if that protective charm wasn't on him."

"How do you know about that?"

"Well I did pop in at Spinner's End first looking for you, didn't I?"

"And Toby was trying to hurt Sev?" Panic showed on Eileen's face.

"No, by the time I arrived, he was gone."

"Gone - - " Now Ele was infuriated. "He left Sev alone."

"From what I found, the boy was better off. Soul fragmentation is nothing to sneer at."

Ele couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Soul fragmentation? Tell me you are exaggerating."

"I wish I was."

"And you left him there too."

"I took care of the problem. I may be old, but I can handle a simple retrieval of a soul fragment."

"Of course you can. Probably better than anyone else."

"The only thing I can't handle is your father. I'd best be getting back."

"And I've got to get home," Ele added.

Irmaguard was just about to aspirate back to the Prince family home before she remembered why she'd come to the muggle area to begin with. "Wait, I wanted to tell you something. Your father, he's found out that your boy's name is on the list for Hogwarts. He thought maybe it wouldn't be. He wasn't in a rush to find out, but a strange owl came by with a list wanting the head of the family to check and see if all of the children who might be attending the school in the next ten years were still alive, or weren't squibs. You know, after what happened to poor Mesmeric. And there with the others, was your Severus' name."

"Of course it was." Ele spoke proudly. "Sev has more magic in his little toe than any of my have brother and sister's children ever will."

"Poor Mesmeric," Erma muttered again.

"So what does he want?"

"I don't know when you can expect it, but he won't pay for the school unless Severus meets 'his' standards. The old standards."

Her aunt wasn't telling Eileen something that she didn't know she was going to have to face one day. There were a lot of things she could teach her son on her own, but Severus had too much potential not to be given a chance for Hogwarts, or the exposure to other young wizards. That meant money. Thanks to Tobias, that meant getting it from her father. Getting it from her father meant going through an arcane ritual that might end up with her son dead. She also knew the misery that would come if the boy were not trained. An untrained wizard was a miserable creature, an untrained wizard with great potential even more so. She was going to have to make the hardest decision of her life sometime before her son was eleven.

"When the owl comes," Irmaguard reminded. "Act like it's the first time you've heard."

With that the two witches aspirated to their separate destinations.

tbc


	12. State of Affairs

Wonderful chapter 12

State of Affairs

There was a flash of light and the sound of someone aspirating, but this time the little boy was sleep and didn't see or hear it. Eileen looked down at her son sleeping in tranquility she wondered what had happened earlier. The vibration of the encounter still lingered in the room. She closed her eyes to see what had become all too familiar, Tobias enraged, weather it be at her or their son. Things were not going his way so they paid the consequence. Her hand found its way to the side of Severus' face. "What are we going to do?" If her son had been awake, he might have told her to send Daddy packing. The odd thing was, despite all, there were small parts of both wife and son that actually loved the beast. The touch of his mother's hand woke the child. On seeing Ele, Sev's eyes grew sad. In them was a deep sadness that should not have been in the continence of one so young. "Mum," the boy said in a low sad voice. "Why does Dad hate me?"

Ele felt as if she'd been stabbed in the core of her being. "It's not you Sevvy." The mother tried to calm the child with strokes through his hair, his beautiful silky black hair. Neglect had not reared its ugly head yet. "It's not you." This was followed by a kiss to his forehead. Though her closeness calmed him down a bit, her words only proved to Severus that his mother was not the knower of all things. For surely, the child believed, it was him. He had to have done something that made is father act so badly. He was not good enough. "Now go back to sleep."

Even as she said this, Eileen could hear noise downstairs. The way she had entered the house meant she had not seen the potion bottles on the steps. That was what Toby had slipped on as he came in the door. "Damn witch." His disposition had not improved in his nightly journeys. As soon as the words were heard, Severus clenched his whole self. He gripped the edge of the covers and cowered under them. To Ele he seemed tenser than ever. How bad had it been when she left? Wand less didn't mean magic less. Her hand still resting on the boy's head she spoke the simple incantation, "Repose." Her son fell into a deep sleep. She went down the stairs to face the resident tyrant.

"You have got to be the sorriest excuse for a father." Eileen was not pulling any punches.

Toby sneered. "Maybe if I didn't have the sorriest excuse for a son - - "

She wouldn't let him finish his berating words. "How can you talk about Sev like that?"

"I open my mouth and state the obvious."

Ele could smell the booze on his breath. There was the smell of a sweet smokiness on his clothes and in his hair that indicated drink wasn't the only substance Toby'd been partaking in that night. "I'm not going to argue with you when you in this condition," she told him.

He didn't seem to be listening. "Have you still got that money I gave you?"

"You're not getting any of it back."

Toby went to grab Ele by the wrist. The protective charm sensed his harmful intentions and did not allow him to touch her. Ele huffed out a laugh. "Not this time."

"I need that money," Toby growled.

"You had enough to by your booze and - - " She reached inside of his coat pocket to pull out a bag of what looked like dry leaves. "And this."

Toby snatched back the bag of pot. "Thought your lot was all in for herbs." A snide grin crossed his face.

"In it's proper place and use."

"Bla, bla, bla. What's proper about any of your kind?"

"Just shut up and go sleep it off."

Toby actually listened to Ele's suggestion. At the top of the stairs he called back down. "You coming?"

"Bloody likely."

"Be that way then." There was the slam of a door.

The rest of the night was quiet. Ele slept on the couch. Although sleep was the least of what she did that night. Thinking over and over about what she could do about the situation. Each option had a negative to go along with the positive. There was a strong pull to listen to what Irmaguard had said about going back to the wizarding world. Then she would think of the equally tormented existence she feared awaited them there. The words 'blood traitor' and 'half-blood' rang in her head. Of course, they could lie about it. If she chose that road, it would not be easy. Without proof of who she was, there was no proof she was a full-fledged witch. Duplicity started late was hard to sustain. On the other hand, deception started early had a chance of working. She knew she'd have to start to drill her son in hiding the fact that he was a half-blood in the presence of other wizards.

Another worry that kept her awake was the troll himself, Toby. Ele kept thinking he'd snap out of this funk he'd been in over the last year. He would stop hurting the rest of his family. He'd be who he had been before. He'd be the man she loved again. She did not know it then, but that was just a fantasy. Thought all indications were to the contrary, it was a fantasy she still believed. She believed that the monster could still be tamed.

In the morning, both Snape men woke to the smell of breakfast cooking. How long had it been since that had happened. "Bacon?" Sev was sure that was what he smelled. "Am I dreaming?" He figured he better find out. It wasn't a dream.

"I thought this would get you out of bed."

"Where'd it come from?"

"I went out to the shop this morning."

In all seriousness the boy asked, "You rob them?"

"Severus Snape, what a thing to say."

"Didn't think you had any money left."

"I got paid again last night." Eileen made up a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs for her son. She'd even gotten milk. They hadn't seen milk in weeks. Severus took no time in tucking into the food. "Want some toast and jam to go with that?" A big nod accompanied the shoveling of a huge forkful of egg. After he swallowed he asked, "Is it Christmas Mum?"

"No that's a few months off."

The boy was content with that answer. He was even more content when he saw what his mother was putting on the now toasted bread. "Real butter Mum?"

"Real butter Sev."

She put the toast in front of her son along with a small jar of strawberry jam. Severus' fork plunged into the fruit and half the jar headed for the toast. "Hey, take it easy," his mother scolded. Three quarters of the jam went back. "That's better."

The toast disappeared as fast as the eggs and bacon had. After the last drop of milk was gone from his glass, Sev ran over to where his mother was drinking tea and munching on her own toast. A huge hug was delivered along with a, "Thank you Mum."

"Well, you're welcome."

Then they could both hear Toby coming down the stairs. What kind of mood would he be in that morning? Before finding out Severus thought to be sure it was a good one. He ran out to the living room as if the night before was forgotten, it hadn't been, but he could pretend. "Dad come see what Mum made." Tobias wondered why his son was being so cheery. To Toby's surprise his son grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen.

"Ummm," Toby groaned. "Smells good. Looks good."

"It is good Dad."

Part of Toby wanted to say something snide like, 'this what you blew my money on?' The part that was hungry out weighed the other part. He took a plate and piled food on it. He mumbled, "Good, real good." Coming out of Toby Snape's mouth, that was practically a soliloquy. Maybe this would be a good day.

"Severus," Ele addressed. "It's Saturday, you know what that means?"

Sev nodded. He sure did know what that meant. It meant it was one of the two days he could go out and play. In the time of year when Muggle kids were in school, he couldn't be seen just playing in the neighborhood. If some muggle school officials saw that, they might try to drag him off to said muggle school. Wizard children did not go to school with muggle children. Not because of some blood purity reason, but because little wizards and witches couldn't control their magic. Magic that muggles must not see. That was wizard law number one, the secrecy law. Muggles must not see magic. The wizarding world must not be exposed. Everyone remembered what happened when such a law did not exist. Wizards were almost sent to their extinction. That would not happen again. Ele sent Sev off to play with the same admonition she always did, "Don't let muggles see you do magic."

Sev made the promise he always did, "I won't."

tbc


	13. Muggles, Muggles, That Spells Trouble

Wonderful chapter 13

Muggles, Muggles, That Spells Trouble

Little Severus didn't need to be told twice, he was out the door before his mother could do any more nagging. He literally ran up Spinner's End in a rush to get as far away from there as a boy on the verge of being seven could go. In those days that was a lot of places. At that time the Snape boy didn't stand out like a sore thumb as he would a few years later. He wore not a new shirt, but at least one meant for a little boy. The jeans he had actually fit him at the time. There were decent looking tennis shoes on his feet. The only thing that slowed him down was the fact that, other than the breakfast he had just consumed, meals in the Snape house were far and in-between. It had made him not grow as much as an average kid his age, and he got tired very quick. After a block of running, he had to slow down to catch his breathe and give his skinny little legs a break. Severus was heading to one of his favorite places. Down by the river in a sea of cobblestone, brick, and hot top there was one last fortress of the wilds. A century ago when the mills were going up and trees were going down, the city planners kept one part of the river bank a place where the mill workers, if they had time for anything that frivol, could enjoy nature. That was not why Severus wanted to go there. He wanted to go there because no one else did, much. It was a place where one could hide under a tree and practice magic without prying eyes. That could never happen at Spinner's End, there was always some bunch of the neighborhood kids around there.

When he felt he could run again the boy went the rest of the way to the green space. Solitude was not what Sev found when he reached his private forest. There was a bunch of people there. What they were doing there, the boy was determined to find out. On occasional person might be found walking through, or teenagers finding a secret make out place, but this was a lot of people. They seemed to have make shift fishing lines of some kind. This demanded an investigation. These people didn't look all that friendly, or clean. That didn't stop young Snape. Bold as could be the kid walked right into the group of people on the riverbank.

Just as boldly Sev solicited, "What you lot doing? No fish in there."

Sev knew of what he spoke. Fish were rarely found in the river that had been a dumping ground for a century of dyes and other solvents used in the woolen industry. Other manner of pollutants came down from further up river making any fish one could get out of the river not exactly something one would one to eat.

"Not feesh," an old man said with a thick accent. "Eels."

"Eels? What's that?"

"Eels," a boy a bit older than Severus said before holding up some thing that looked like a black snake. Apparently they lived in the river.

The local boy asked, "What you want those for?"

"Good for eating," the old man informed. "Roast on fire."

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"No leetle boy, ve are not from round here."

"Where you from then?"

"You are noseeey leetle boy, eh."

This statement took Severus back a bit. Was he being nosey? Maybe he shouldn't be talking to these people. The old man put the boy at ease. "Es okay. Just curious leetle boy."

Sev nodded.

"You vant to try?"

"Grandpa, we'll never catch enough if we let this kid help." Apparently the boy did not have an accent.

"No, es good to making friends with local people." The old man beaconed for Severus to come closer. "Geev him a pole."

The grandson made a sour face, the rest of the men and boys seemed to ignore Snape altogether. One of them just caught another eel. That seemed to be of prime concern. The older boy let the young stranger use his pole to try and catch an eel. It was not really a proper fishing pole; it was an old piece of reed with a length of packing string attached, and a safety pin on the end for a hook. How they caught anything with them was a miracle itself. A long stretch of time passed and it seemed as if the eel that had been caught as Severus had arrived would be the last one for a while.

"They've gone dry," one of the other men said. "Must have gone up stream."

Innocently, Sev asked, "Why don't you call them back?"

Most of the men and boys laughed, "Call them back that's a good one."

The old man with the accent however took what Sev had said seriously. "You theenk you cin call de eels?"

Severus suddenly realized what he had done. He began to shake and dropped the pole on the ground. "I - - " He backed up. "I never said that." He ran as fast as he could to get away from the strange group. "Stupid," he berated himself when he was well away from them. "If they hadn't laughed you would have gone ahead and called the stupid things to yourself. Then where would you be?" He thought it best, for now, to get away from the riverbank.

Another of Severus' favorite places was Market Street. As it's name implied it was where there were all manner of markets. It wasn't what was being sold that interested the boy. What interested the boy was what some of the merchants used to sell their wares in. Some of them used old-fashioned horse drawn wagons. It gave a sense of ambiance for what little tourists the old mill city got these days. The little Wizard boy liked to go and 'talk' to the horses. He didn't worry about muggles seeing this. They just thought he was a cute little kid, pretending to talk to the animals. No one ever believed he could hear what they were saying back.

One particular horse that was nice enough to actually talk to the boy instead of telling him to get lost, as many of the poor work horses did, was an old cream colored mare who pulled a fruit wagon. "Hello there Severus Snape," she greeted with an apparent neigh and a big nod of her head. "Good to see you again."

The boy petted the mare's muzzle. "Good to see you too Buttercup. What's that thing on your head?"

"My owner thought it would be 'cute' to put a floppy straw hat with the ears sticking out on me. It's rather embarrassing to tell you the truth."

"Yhea, I could see why." It would have looked all right had she been a silly beast, but Buttercup had once been dignified.

"I don't suppose you could use your magic to help me out could you lad?"

While continuing to pat the horse, Sev looked around to see where the owner of said beast and cart was. Sev leaned in close to whisper in the mare's ear, "It would be easier with a wand. But I'll try." Just in case a Muggle did look his way, the boy put a hand up to block anyone from seeing what he was doing with his mouth. Severus was making a blowing wind noise then he began to repeat the word, "Breezy," over and over. Little kid magic always worked. A gust of wind did come at the little wizard's command. It was strong enough to send the offending hat off of Buttercup and rolling down the street. It also send dust and anything that wasn't tied down in the same direction.

"That worked a little bit too well," Buttercup pointed out. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

The owner of the cart came back cursing, "Bloody weather man said it was to be calm today. Shows you what they know."

"You there." He caught sight of Severus. "Didn't I tell you last week to stop pestering my horse?"

"I'm not pestering her. She likes me."

"Well, I don't so unless you're going to buy something, move on."

The boy wrinkled his face at the man but walked away. Buttercup showed her disproval by kicking the front of the cart sending a good deal of the fruit on to the cobblestones. "You lousy creature." The owner took a riding crop he kept on the cart and swatted the mare several times.

"Don't do that!" The little boy was back.

"It's my horse and I'll smack it all I like. Get out of here boy before I call the police." The man began to swat the horse again. Before the second blow could touch the horse, a tremendous cramp came over his entire hand. "Ah!" The crop fell to the ground. The pain in the man's arm was now pulsing. The boy walked away and the pain disappeared. If he didn't know better - - Severus was very lucky, many times, that Muggles didn't know better.

tbc

**I wanted this to go longer, but I need sleep. More tomorrow I hope.**


	14. The Tribe

Wonderful chapter 14

The Tribe

Another of Severus' favorite places to visit was where an old woman sold silk scarves that women of the day would tie over their hair-dos to keep them from being ruined as they walked about. It was not the scarves that interested the boy naturally; it was the woman's pet that sat there with her. This was Ferris the Ferret. Unlike the previous owner, this lady didn't mind when the boy started to play with her pet. "Hello Ferris," Sev greeted as the rodent came forward for the scratch behind the ears that was on the way. "Hello Severus," the ferret greeted back.

"What no hello for me?" The scarf seller asked.

"Hello Mrs. Tangle."

"That 's better. Good morning Mr. Snape. Been keeping out of trouble?"

The boy was too busy picking up the ferret who was almost as long as he was tall. He sat and put the animal on his lap. He nodded to the old woman. He had become acquainted with both Mrs. Tangle and Ferris a while back when he had hid under her cart in an attempt to hide from the gang of boys who usually chased him about. Ferris had actually bitten the biggest of the boys who had tried to pull Severus out from under the cart. Mrs. Tangle did her part by then chasing them off by acting all crazy and shouting, "You boys get out of here."

After sitting with the ferret for a while, the boy asked the old woman, "If Ferris ever has babies, do you think I could have one?"

With a smile Tangle said, "Little Mister Snape, IF Ferris ever has babies, you certainly can have one." She never did bother to explain to the boy that Ferris was a boy and highly unlikely to have babies unless she found him a lady ferret to get busy with. As she had no plans to get a lady ferret, it wasn't likely.

"What you doing down here when there's travelers round the corner?"

"Travelers?"

"Some calls 'em gypsies, but they're not all gypsies."

"What's that?" Severus had never heard either of these words.

"They're people who travel in caravans, now a lot are just vans, but they do all manner of entertaining," Tangle explained. "I heard that there were some exceptional acrobats with this lot. They'll sing songs. Of course the hats will be out for donations. You might even get your fortune told by one."

"My fortune?" Sev said to himself. He wondered if these people might be from the wizarding world. If they were, how would the old muggle woman know about it? He was sure that despite her oddities, Mrs. Tangle was indeed a muggle and had not an ounce of magic to her.

"Round the corner you say?"

"Yep."

It was the ferret that warned the boy, "You be careful with that lot Severus."

The boy wanted to question Ferris, but he couldn't with Tangle sitting right there. He asked her instead. "Are they nice people?"

"Oh, don't let any rumors worry you, they're very nice people."

Severus trusted the old muggle for some reason. He put down the ferret and went to find these people he believed might be witches and wizards.

Round the corner was where an old loading dock for one of the factories used to be. It was still there, but the coming and going of hundreds of trucks a day had gone silent. It was just an empty lot now. For a few weeks it would not be empty, it would be where the city officials would allow this group of 'travelers' to settle in. They were there to do as Mrs. Tangle had said, to do all manner of entertaining. The police had told them if there were any trouble because of them, their 'arses' would be out of there before they could blink.

The hot top was crowded with old dilapidated cars, vans, and other manner of vehicles. Some even old fashioned wagon homes. Instead of being pulled by horses, they were hitched to trailers of flat beds. The modern vehicles made a perimeter surrounding the older ones that were arranged in a sort of village. In that village the local residents were going to buy hand made wares, get things repaired, listen to some music, but mostly go to the fortunetellers'. Severus was curious, but he noticed it was costing people fifty pence to get into the village. Maybe he could sneak in.

Being small helped sometimes. Sev was able to crawl right under one of the vans. Unfortunately, being small did not make him invisible. He was seen as he crawled out. The man who saw him grabbed the boy by the wrist.

"Think yer cleaver eh boy?"

"I didn't do nothing," Sev protested.

On closer examination of the boy, the man who had caught him said something in a language he didn't understand. The speaking of that language continued as the child was dragged towards a group of other people. An older Snape would have just stupefied the man and been done with, the little one could only hope for a moment when he could make a break for it. A woman came forth and addressed the boy in the same or a similar tongue that Snape still didn't understand. Finally someone asked him in English, "What family are you boy?"

"I don't have to tell you." Severus thought the man was just being nosey. The man was under the belief that this defiant little boy was one of them.

"Cheeky little nip," the man made a threatening gesture.

"You better let me go." Snape had been struggling and twisting to get loose from the original man who had never let go. "I'll bite you!"

"He'll bite me he says." The man laughed and lifted Severus off the ground by that fast held wrist. "Can't bite me now can ya."

More people spoke to the fraught boy in more dialects just as unintelligible as the last. In English again someone said, "No kid is that oblivious, he doesn't understand Shelta, other languages, or any of the codes. He's not one of ours."

The man holding Severus aloft looked into the boy's face. "Could have sworn he was one of those Roms. Obsidian hair and eyes - - "

"Fool," a woman said. "That kid is as English as a crumpet."

"What we gonna' do with him?"

"Do with him?"

"He snuck in."

"So get the lousy fifty pence and let him go."

Snape's captor probed into the pockets of the boy's jeans to find they were quite empty. He looked back at the woman.

"Just let him go."

The man put Severus back on the ground and let go of him. He then made a puffing noise and stomped a foot on the ground as if he were trying to scare off some wondering cat. It worked. Snape jumped in surprise, then fled into the crowd. The boy did not stop moving, but he was trying to digest what had just happened. He was trying to figure out if he wanted to see what the rest of these people were up to, or if he wanted to run as far away as he could.

It happened that after wondering around the mock village for a while, Sev was looking at familiar faces, the old man and his grandson from the river. They each had a rope of eels, at least six on each. They held them up for another man to see. "I'll take three," the man said. He turned to a woman to say, "Three should be enough?"

The woman nodded before confirming, "Three Mr. Snapeivitsky."

Severus' jaw gaped. What had that woman called that old man who spoke very bad English? Snapeivitsky? 'No, it can't be,' Snape thought. As far as he knew, he was indeed as English as a crumpet. His mother's family had been among the first students at Hogwarts. He began to wonder about his father's family. Nothing was ever mentioned about them. 'Impossible.' Still Severus found that he could not ignore what he had just heard. Determined to find out more about these two, he decide to follow them.

tbc


	15. History's Mysteries

Wonderful chapter 15

History's Mysteries

Snape followed the two muggles around the grounds as they sold the eels to various people. It appeared to be the older folk that wanted them. The more he walked among these people, Severus was sure that none of them were wizards or witches, despite all the claims that they could predict the future. The young

wizard was convinced they were as muggle as muggles could be. That would describe his dad, so Snape thought it might be possible these Snapeivitskys were related to him. Once the boy became fascinated by something, he always pursued it till the end. As he watched them, he plotted, 'the boy, he'll tell me.' Sev kept following, waiting for a chance to get the boy alone, and 'make' him talk.

Eventually, the old man and his grandson stopped at one of the old fashion wooden wagons on the edge of the encampment, near an alley. An old woman, even older than the old man, greeted them. She promptly began to order them about in a non-English language. A lot of pointing accompanied the orders.

"Grandpa," the boy whined. "Buna knows I don't understand that gibberish."

The grandfather's hand raised, but it did not strike the boy. "That geeberich es yur nateeve tongue Ovidius. Do not mock et."

"I was born in England," the boy shot back. "My native tongue is English."

The old man shook his head before commanding, "Go make a fire."

Ovid took some wood from under the wagon and carried it to a steel drum cut for a barrel standing at the back of the wagon, almost in the alley. He began to stack the wood inside to build a fire. This was what Sev was waiting for. The boy was quite alone. Quietly Snape slunk towards Ovid. He was good at walking up on people without them hearing him. Not being seen was not his intent, so he stood there on the opposite side of the barrel until Ovid saw him. The gypsy boy jumped with a start on seeing Severus seem to just appear there.

"Oh, its you." Ovid kept stacking the wood inside the barrel. "Why did you run away from us down at the river?"

Sev shrugged. He wasn't about to answer that question. Ovid thought the boy looked a bit scrawny and so said, "We're going to roast some of the eels, you want one? I'm sure Gramps would give you one." Knowing where the eels had come from, Snape wanted no part of them. The fact that they looked like slimy snakes didn't help. How was he supposed to know they tasted good? All Severus did was stand there and stair at Ovid with those pitch black eyes. After a while it began to creep Ovid out. "Is there something you want?"

"Yes, there is something I want." Severus did not break eye contact. His mother had taught him a thing or two. He hoped that Ovid would do what he wanted. It wouldn't have worked on and adult, but it did on the boy. "I want you to tell me about your family history." Ovid tried to fight the urge to talk. "Tell me. I want to know about your grandfather."

His resistance failed. Ovid was forced to answer, "Gramps and Buna are from Romania. They've been here for about five-teen years."

This answer didn't seem to satisfy Snape's curiosity. He commanded. "What else?"

"He sent his son, my dad, here before the war to live with the others."

"Others? What others?"

"The ones who became English."

Even as young as he was, he was an inquisitive being. This sounded like a thread Severus wanted to follow. "Tell me about them."

"They came here a long time ago."

"How long"

"I don't know, seven hundred years or so. They came here as the servants of the dark prince's nephew."

This interested Severus intently. "Tell me about this nephew. Why did he come here?"

"The dark prince's brother sent one of his sons here, to hide him, and to learn the ways of the sorcerers at the ruined castle that is not empty."

'Hogwarts?' Snape couldn't believe his ears. 'It can't be,' he thought as Ovid continued. "The nephew of the dark prince did not want to return to his homeland. He wed with one of the sorceresses of a family of the old magic. It was at this time our ancestors escaped his service, and joined with the highland travelers."

Severus wanted to know more, but now the old man and the older woman were coming around to that side of the wagon. "Tell them nothing," Sev ordered before breaking eye contact. Ovid shook his head not realizing what he had just told this strange boy.

Before Severus could digest what he had heard, the old woman was talking in that language again. Then her son, Ovid grandfather said, "My mother vants to know vhy ve have never seen yu before?"

Sev's eyes darted back and forth before he replied, "Because you've never been here before." Before he knew it, the old woman was grabbing him by the wrist and turning over his hand and looking at his palm. She said something else.

"My mother vants to varn yu to bevare of de - - " the man paused to think. "Vhat es de word - - varevolves."

"Werewolves?" Severus snickered. There were no werewolves around there, and if there were he certainly wouldn't associate with them.

The woman hadn't let go of Severus, what she said next he understood. In a hushed tone she murmured, "Vizard."

Ovid's grandfather looked confused. He shook his head and repeated, "Vizard?"

"Vizard."

How did this woman know he was a wizard? He tried to pull away, and yelled, "LET GO OF ME!" In times of extreme stress, kid magic could come out in unplanned ways, or it could evaporate. Sev's was not showing up. Something was trying to keep him from confirming that he was a wizard.

"Vhat es yur name boy?"

"None of your business!"

"Buna let go of the kid," Ovid broke in. "Grandpa this is ridiculous."

"Es not ridiculous. Yu know Buna es vitch - - " Sev's struggling interrupted this statement. He got out of the old woman's grip but fell into Ovid's grandfather. He caught Severus before continuing, " - - Es vitch hunter." Severus had never been more frightened in his entire life, not even during one of Tobias' tirades. The boy freaked out. Tears were rolling down his face.

"Grandpa, let the kid go." Ovid was now shouting. "You're going to get us all in trouble."

"Ef ve let da sorcerer's spawn go, ve'll be en bigger trouble."

"Grandpa, there's no such thing as sorcerers, wizards, or witches."

"Yu know leetle my grandson."

The woman was saying something else in the language Snape didn't understand. The grandfather translated. "Not only es dis one a vizard, he es spawn of our enslaver."

"Grandpa, what are you talking about?"

"Dragon Prince. Descendent of de Dragon Prince."

"That doesn't make sense," Ovid believed. "He looks more like one of us, that nose - - "

Ovid tried to calm Severus down while asking, "Can you tell me your name kid. I want to get you home."

"I'm not saying anything until this old coot gets his filthy muggle paws off me!"

"See he even uses vizard verds. Vhat dey called us vhen ve vere slaves, Muggles."

"Kid, how do you know that word?"

"How do you?"

"It's in our legends."

"Maybe it's in ours too." Severus couldn't believe he'd just said that. His only hope now was that Ovid didn't believe any of it.

"Yours too, just what does that mean?"

Sev figured he had one way of getting away from these people, admitting part of the truth. "I'm a Snape. That's why I followed you. My name is Snape."

The three gypsies looked at each other. Ovid was the one to realize, "Guess he is one of us."

tbc


	16. Calling In The Calvery

Here is the full chapter. Yes that was a type-o. I need to go back and fix a few of those.

Wonderful ch. 16

Calling In The Calvery

With all of his concentration, Severus tried to conjure up something that would help him get away. As if expecting what came, the old Gypsy only shook as the shock entered the hands that held the little wizard.

"One of us? Ovid said to himself.

"Es a trick," the old man, Dinu insisted. "No Snapeivitsky vould marry a vitch."

Little Snape snorted out, "Wanna bet?"

"Gramps," Ovid contemplated. "What if it's one of the old families, the ones who came over here with - - "

"Shush, don't say dat name."

"It would explain why half the name is missing."

"Ef et es one of us, even more right to hold him ve have."

"Hold him, Gramps!" Ovid was in disbelief. In all of his twelve years, nothing like this had ever happened. "This is England, you can't just hold kids against their will, its call kidnapping."

"Es called kidnapping in old country too. But vizard, ve can hold. Do you know how much this families fortunes would change if ve had a vizard at our command?"

The Gypsy boy racked his brain trying to think of something that would make his grandfather let go of the strange boy. "This one's so little, it doesn't look like he could do much of anything."

Severus' pride felt insulted, so he spoke up, "Not do much? Watch this. REDUCTO!" Wand or not, everything in the immediate area was knocked over, including the three people. Ovid was beginning to think his elders were not so crazy after all.

-------------------------------------

The young Snapeivitsky still didn't think it too smart to try and hold on to the kid. Sev was now scurrying as fast as he could to get away from them. He was not fast enough. The old woman took something out of one of her pockets and whipped it at the boy as if he were a wicket/ The small cloth bundle hit Snape and an orange/red powder broke out of it, spreading across the boy. It stopped him clod in his tracks.

'No,' Sev thought. 'This isn't happening.' All manner of thoughts were running through his head. 'Witch hunters; They're real.' He had always believed his mother warned him about them to scare him, or keep him in line. Now he knew witch/wizard hunters were real. They were not pretend like Fignoodles or Nergals. These people were not the fake witch hunters of the inquisition who burnt oddballs to keep the people under control, or those Puritan knobs in America who hung their neighbors as real estate scams. These were the real thing; People who hunted witches and wizards to enslave them to do their bidding.

"Buna what is that?" Ovid asked.

"Paprika," the old woman answered.

"Paprika?"

Dinu explained, "Vizards can't stand paprika. Et immobilizes dem."

Paprika, who knew?

Severus felt himself being grabbed by the collar of his shirt and pulled up again. Dinu dragged him over to a beat up old car and threw him in the trunk. Sev could still hear them.

"Grandpa," Ovid was still protesting. "This kids parents will come looking for him."

"Dat's da plan."

The grandson's face became a question mark.

"De vitch dat knows more magic dan dis one vill come looking for it. Ve vill have her too."

"NO!" Severus kicked the inside of the trunk. He realized they were going to use him as bait to catch his mother. He kept kicking but no one seemed to hear. He began to cry and whimper, "Mum." Of course he wanted her to come and rescue him, but he didn't want these people to hurt her either. After an hour of banging, trying to scratch, and even magic-ing his way out of the trunk, the little boy couldn't fight anymore. In the dark cold place he fell asleep.

Later at the Snape household a fight was in full swing. "When it got dark weren't you the least concerned that out son hadn't come home?"

"I figured you had him."

"I was at work, you know in a pub, where kids aren't supposed to be, especially not at two in the morning." Eileen went to look for her son. She traced Severus' steps; to the river; to Market St.; to the old loading dock lot where a hoard of muggles camped. 'Gypsies,' Ele thought. Then she worried. 'What if they have Sev - - " The wizarding world knew there were hunters among the muggles called gypsies or travelers, not many, but there were some. Her family was especially weary of them. These muggles had a particular grudge against them. She had no idea that her husband was one of them. She would not go into the encampment. If she were captured as well, it would not help Severus. She was going to need help. Her natural mistrust of the ministry, and knowing no help would come from her family (not to help a half-blood), she thought of one of her old teachers. She did not think of Slughorn her old potions master, the head of her house first, she thought of her transfiguration professor, who had been the headmaster for the last ten years, Dumbledore.

Hogwarts was not as far as London, but it was further than she had apparated in a long time. 'Dang,' she thought. 'No wand anyway.' She'd have to go home to use the floo system. Tobias was sleeping on the floor. He managed to as, "Find him?"

Ele growled at him. Grabbed a handful of floo powder, throwing it with a cry of, "Hogwarts, Slytherin common room." She disappeared from Spinner's End and reappeared at the stated place. This startled more than one student who had been studying there before breakfast.

"Who are you?"

"I need to see Professor Slughorn."

"How did you get in here?"

The following commotion brought the head of Slytherin House into the common room. He was still in his nightshirt and robe. "Eileen? Eileen Prince?" He wasn't quite sure if it was the same person. She looked so much changed; so tired, so haggard, paler and skinnier than ever, and overall not well.

"Yes, I'm sorry Sir. I need help; I need to see Professor Dumbledore. I didn't know how else to get into the castle."

"Can't I help you? We need not disturb the Headmaster so early."

Ele looked a bit embarrassed. "I would like you to help, but, no offence, this is a matter in which I have more confidence in Dumbledore. Please can we find him quickly?"

"I'm sure he's still in his chambers. We'll have to go to Professor McGonagall to get the password." Slughorn escorted the former student to the portal of Gyffindor House's dormitory.

"Pass word," the Fat Lady asked.

"I don't have the password," the head of Slytherin said. "We need McGonagall."

"Do I look like butler?"

"It's an emergency," Ele added.

The Fat Lady turned to the inside of Gryffindor tower and called out, "Minerva McGonagall, you are wanted at the portal."

Said witch had just finished brushing her teeth. She wondered who on earth was calling for her at such an early hour. Good thing she'd dressed early. The portrait that served as the door opened and the head of Gryffindor stood there. She blinked on seeing Eileen. An entire class that had been first years when she had graduated had gone off into the world already. Slughorn said one word and she understood. "Witch Hunters."

"They have my child," Eileen added.

"You'll be wanting Professor Dumbledore then." McGonagall proceeded Slughorn and Ele to the entrance of Dumbledore's quarters. She whispered to the gargoyle, "Crystal Ginger," and it let them in. She called out to warn Dumbledore they were on their way up. "Head Master! Head Master, there is an urgent matter you are needed to be told of." By the time they were up the stairs, he was in his office.

"Eileen Prince?" Dumbledore was also surprised by the ex-student's appearance; both how she looked and the fact that she was there. He didn't ask how she got in the castle as no one could apparate into it. "What is the problem?"

"Witch hunters have captured my boy," Ele told. "I know you have had dealings with them before. You are the only help I can expect." She looked into his and Slughorn's faces. "Unless you wouldn't want to help save a - - half-blood."

"You know that's not true," Slughorn immediately put in.

Dumbledore pushed his glasses back up his nose before saying, "You know I have no such apprehensions. I can understand why you couldn't go to your family." He looked as if he were contemplating something for a moment. "I don't think they will harm the child, but in case they have other plans than using him to catch a bigger fish, we should get going." He took out his wand and prepared to apparate to where Eileen would tell him. "Professor McGonagall, you're in charge for a bit. We have to go outside of the castle to apparate."

As Dumbledore, Slughorn, and Eileen walked she told them, "I don't actually have a wand at the moment." She couldn't help but be embarrassed. "A temporary ban."

"I see," Dumbledore said. When they were in a spot where the protective charm that kept people from apparating in or out of the castle he told her, "Grab my sleeve. You too Horace. We may as well all go the same way. Eileen, where to?"

"Muggle Manchester." She told him a safe place to appear. They apparated to a deserted alley around the corner from the encampment where Severus was being held.

"I suppose we should look less conspicuous," Dumbledore put forth.

Eileen was okay; she looked like a muggle already. Both men transformed their clothing to ft in with working muggles. After doing this the three walked nonchalantly towards their destination.

"There seem to be no guard-charms," Dumbledore informed. "I wonder if on the whole these people don't know about our kind. The trap must be specific to a few people."

Slughorn suggested, "Should one of us trip the trap?"

"I will," Ele jumped in. "I can sense where my son is. One of you might scare him more."

"We'll be right behind you," Dumbledore told.

Eileen took a deep breath and stepped into what she considered 'enemy' territory.

tbc


	17. Hex Em

_Authors note: Just in case you read the short preview of chapter 16 and didn't see, the whole of that chapter is now posted. This is a little short, but I hope to post sooner than this time. **If I have missed replying to a review forgive me. It's been crazy around here lately.**_

Wonderful chapter 17

Hex Em

Severus woke up and saw some light creeping in through the seam of the car trunk. At least they had not driven off somewhere in the night. The car had never moved. He didn't know that he had help, even if it was unsuccessful in the form of his 720th a millionth removed cousin Ovid. The older boy was waiting for a chance to let Sev go, but Dinu and Buna were watching like hawks. By the time one of them had fallen asleep he had as well. Snape again tried to use his kid magic to escape. He remembered what his mother had told him, 'One must control one's fear for magic to work well.' It was hard not to be afraid. It was dark, it was cold, and it smelled. When Buna went to make breakfast and Dinu hadn't woken up yet, Ovid went to the car. He could hear the boy repeating a word he could not figure out. "Allowmoris?" Sev had also been told confidence helped magic. Not being sure of the charm didn't help. "Alegromogo? Alohamomo?"

'What is it?' "Alohamoris." At least this time it wasn't a question. "OPENUP!" The sound of kicking could be heard from inside the trunk. Then there was more crying.

"Listen kid," Ovid said. He had to be loud enough for the boy to hear, but low enough for his grandfather and great-grandmother not to hear. "I don't have the key. I'm going to try and get it."

"Use your wand, use your wand," a panicked Severus pleaded. "Don't go away use your wand!"

"Kid, I don't have no wand."

"You've got to be old enough for a wand. Use your wand." The kid was obviously frazzled. He began to kick and say the word he had been trying to remember. "Allogamoro!" Kick, kick, kick. "Al"- Kick - "Lo" - Kick - "Ha" - Kick - "Mo" - Kick - "Mo!" KICK!

"Calm down," Ovid implored. "If you wake up my Grandfather, I won't get the key."

"You better hurry, or it's going to get real wet in here."

"Oh no, don't you dare kid."

"What do you expect when you lock someone up in a trunk all night?"

"Got a point there." Ovid went to look for the key.

Severus continued to kick and say things such as, "Alegromogo!" "Alolgomogo!" & "Aloemora!"

Then he heard the voice he had wanted to hear all night say the right incantation, "Alohamora, Sev it's Alohamora. You have to say it." Wordless spells Eileen could handle, wand less spells, that took a kid.

"Alohamora!" Sev shouted and the trunk up latched. Ele lifted it up the rest of the way and her son grabbed on to her for dear life. Instead of saying 'Mum,' Severus kept repeating the spell, "Alohamora, Alohamora - - " He was also crying the way kids do in fits and jerks. He was nearly choking Eileen with his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist. "Alohamora - - "

"Sevvy, you can stop saying it now. Everything is all right."

"All right for us eh Miss. Vitch?" It was Dinu.

Ele turned to face the old muggle. "It's Mrs. Witch thank you." She began to walk away.

"Vhere do you think you are going?"

"Get the Hell out of my way Muggle before I make you pay for what you've done to my son."

Anyone else seeing the look in Eileen Snape's face would have done more than get out of her way, they would have run. Dinu was not anyone. "Hear'd you tell de little vizard, you got no vand. You are not going anyvhere."

"She may not have a wand," a new voice said. "But I do." It was Slughorn. His wand was pointed at the old man's face.

Dumbledore was behind the man, his wand aimed as well, adding the words, "As do I."

Severus stopped saying Alohamora and said in amazement, "Wizards, cool." Then the little boy pointed at Dinu and shouted, "HEX EM! HEX EM!"

"We're not going to hex anyone," Dumbledore informed to the disappointment of the little wizard. "Unless they do something really stupid."

The entire time Dinu Snapeivitsky was transfixed by Dumbledore. He mumble, "Es you, es you. Dumbusdore."

"You know me?" Albus ignored the mangling of his name.

"You are da one who defeats Gindlevald." There was actually a head bow of respect given by the old gypsy. "Forgive me, I did not know dis little vizard vas one of yours."

"Mine or not, you shouldn't be throwing little kids into automobile trunks, now should you?"

No, no Sir." Dinu scraped and bowed again.

Buna had other ideas. Seeing a hoard of Wizards as well as the Witch had come to rescue the boy she had thoughts that weren't that bright. She threw one of her bags of paprika at Dumbledore.

"Really Madam." Dumbledore laughed as he brushed off the powdered condiment. "That may work on a seven year old, but not me."

At the same time Dinu was asking Buna if she was crazy in their own language, Severus yelled out, "Hex the old muggle!"

Ovid came back with the key, a bit too late, to see the scene that was taking place. He stopped short and held up the key. "I was going to let him out," he informed.

Eileen looked at Ovid. She closed her eyes and shook her head not believing what she was seeing. If Sev looked like Toby, Ovid looked even more like him. She had a bad feeling about this. "You, you look like - - "

The uncanny resemblance was not lost on Dumbledore or Slughorn. They looked at the little boy in Eileen's arms and the older one that had just arrived and came to the same conclusion. It was little Sev that said, "I think they're related to Dad."

"You don't say," Ele said. She was starting to fume. The two wizards both thought to themselves, they wouldn't want to be Mr. Snape when Mrs. Snape arrived home that day. "So - - "

"Eileen, we should be going." Dumbledore touched her elbow to remind her. "We'll go back to Hogwarts and make sure your son is all right."

The young witch's eyes were narrowing at the three gypsies. They were so lucky she did not have her wand. "You touch my son again," she warned. "And I'll do a lot more than hex you."

"Eileen."

The wizards let the witch exit in front of them just in case there were other traps set up. Looking back from his mother's arms, Severus was still whining, "Isn't **an-y-bod-y** going to hex them?" This question went unanswered. Realizing there was to be no hexing, the boy pouted. "Shoooooot!"

tbc


	18. Northward

_Short, but sooner._

Wonderful chapter18

Northward

As they walked back to the place where they could aparate from, the little boy looked at the two wizards with awe and admiration, even though they did not hex the Snapeivitskys. He was trying to remember their names. 'The fat one is Snugglehorn, the old one is Dumbdoors.' Their muggle disguises weren't all that convincing. The suit that Dumbledore wore was three different shades of blue, and Slughorn had a mechanic's overall with gold buttons. The little wizard was astonished to find that the older wizard seemed to know some of the people they walked passed. "Hello Michel," he greeted one.

The muggle greeted back, "Fine Albus, how bout yourself?"

"Fine." There were a few more. A woman waved. Dumbledore nodded and gave a polite, "good to see you're doing better Jane." There were quite a few of these muggles who knew him. One of them even asked about why they were there.

"Hello there Albus," the man greeted. "Having trouble with Flynn again?"

"No, not this time."

"Is this wee one, one of yours?"

"Indeed."

"Needed a bit of rescuing then did he?"

"I'm Afraid so."

"Sorry about that."

"It's taken care of, thank you, Danny."

When they reached a place away from the encampment little Snape looked at Dumbledore with suspicion. That suspicion showed in his voice, "Muggles aren't supposed to know."

"What was that?" The old wizard knew what he heard but wanted to hear the boy's meaning.

"How do those muggles know you're a wizard? They aren't supposed to know." The way he had emphasized the word 'they' made Dumbledore realize even at his young age, the child had a grudge against muggles. If he had known the boy's father, he would understand why. "They scared me; they're bad."

"Not all muggles are bad," Dumbledore explained. "Some of them have witches and wizards in their families as well."

"Muggles can be wizards?" The boy was confused.

"Certain ones, who are born with the gift. Then they are not really muggles, they are called muggle-born, but they are still wizards, and witches." By the time he had finished clarifying to the boy, they had reached the alley. Dumbledore turned to Eileen and asked, "Should we make a stop at your home first? The boy's father might be worried."

Eileen's face scrunched up. "That won't be a problem." Mrs. Snape did not expand on why her statement was true. It still bothered the two professors. If Severus had been one of theirs, and he'd gone missing, they'd be worried. Then again, Toby Snape they were not. For a while Severus had been squirming in Eileen's arms. "Sev what is wrong?" The little boy whispered something into his mother's ear. "Oh."

Sounding a little bit embarrassed Ele spoke up, "Excuse me for a moment Professors." She dragged her son to the shadowy end of the alley. The two wizards had a chuckle when they could hear the little boy protesting from the dark, "Muuuuum, I'm not going to pee in an alley."

"You're going to have to."

"Wizards don't wiz in alleys."

"We are about to apparate, and I'm not about to find out how that effects a full bladder."

"Oh, all right." As much as he may have wanted to, the boy couldn't have held it longer anyway.

The Headmaster joked to the other Professor, "This is why we wait till they're eleven."

When this group reapparated outside the gates of Hogwarts the charm that changed the men's clothes stopped working. Dumbledore was back in his wizard's robes and Slughorn was back in his nightclothes. A slightly green colored Severus laughed and pointed. "Fessor Snuggle is in his pajamas."

If some little snot nose had done that to him when he was older, he would have said, 'and you just peed in an alley.' Luckily for him, Slughorn was not like that. "That is why I must part with you now, I am off to change." He bowed to everyone and proudly walked into the school.

"See you later Professor Snuggle," Dumbledore couldn't resist teasing.

Having been put on the ground and now facing the school, Severus couldn't believe his eyes. There it was Hogwarts castle. The place he had fantasized about since he had first been told such a place existed. "Wow - - " The boy's eyes widened. "Are we going in there?"

"Indeed we are," Dumbledore informed. They walked through the gate and the old wizard spoke again. "Though you are not due here for another four years, welcome to Hogwarts young Mister Snape."

tbc

**I was going to make this chapter longer, but want to think about it a little more.**


	19. First Encounters

Wonderful chapter 19

First Encounters

Guests always created interest at Hogwarts, but the strange woman and her son created more than usual. Students wondered who they were as they followed Dumbledore to his study. More than a few of the young witches said something like, "Awe what a cute little boy." The headmaster could keep a smile from crossing his face. He said to Eileen, "Looks like we will have a lady's man on our hands when Severus is old enough to be a student." The mother beamed. The boy blushed. In fact the little boy looked like a large version of the Beatles dolls that many of those girls had hanging on their dorm walls. This attention made Severus walk as close to his mother as one could without stepping on her, until they stood before a gigantic gargoyle phoenix. "Crystal Ginger," Dumbledore said to it. Severus jumped back as he had been about to pat the creature before it moved and a staircase appeared. Dumbledore gestured to those stairs as he asked, "Shall we?"

Oddly, little Snape got a burst of courage and left his mother's side and led the way. Before they went through the door, Eileen and Albus heard the high voice of Minerva McGonagal asking, "And whom might you be?"

The other two stair climbers entered the room in time to see the boy boldly answered, "I'm Severus Snape. Who are you?"

The Deputy Headmaster stood behind the Headmaster's desk making an impressive sight to the six year old. "I am Professor McGonagal."

"Fessor, My-Gone-gal - - " the boy tried to say, so as to remember.

"McGonagal child," the middle-aged witch corrected.

"Mc - - " the boy didn't even attempt it. The funny thing was that he could pronounce spells that many grown wizards could not speak, but names seemed to give him trouble.

"I suppose you could try Minerva."

"Nerva?"

"Close enough." McGonagal turned to the adults to say, "I see your mission was a success."

"As you see," Dumbledore replied. He turned his attentions to the boy. "Severus, do me a favor and hop up here." The old wizard patted the desk with his palm. Only until the boy was next to it did the headmaster realized the desk was taller than the boy. "Oh, I'll give you a hand." The hand was rather a wand. He levitated the boy to a sitting position on top of his desk. It seemed to amuse the child. Severus was smiling, but he was also shivering. "Accio blanket," Dumbledore called out and the wanted item flew to him. The boy was wrapped in it without magic. "That's better." Another wave of his wand and Dumbledore produced a mug of hot chocolate that floated towards the boy. "Try that."

Severus took the mug in both hands and drank the sweet milk without lowering the mug from his face. The blanket hung around him like little wings. This may have been one of the first times Snape resembled a bat, because this is the first thing McGonagal thought. "That was good," the boy said after draining the mug dry. "Thank you very much Fessor Dumbdoors."

The headmaster coughed choking on a suppressed laugh. "Articulate little fellow aren't you?"

The boy wasn't paying attention to Dumbledore's words; he was looking around the study. "You've got lots of books."

"You like books?"

Severus nodded. Then he began to play with the bells hanging from the old wizard's beard. "Why have you got bells in your beard?" It being a curious thing didn't stop the child from making them jungle.

"I think they are rather fun." This didn't seem to register with the boy. "And they keep my beard from going all over the place." The boy kept thumping his fingers on the tiny bells.

It was Eileen that told him, "Sev, stop that."

"It's not bothering me."

The boy still obeyed his mother. He went back to looking at all the books. Wanting to know how intelligent the future student might be, Dumbledore said, "Why don't you read me something?" The headmaster's shelves had a section of children's books every once in a while he found some that struck him and he added it to the collection. He thought Eileen's son would go for one of those, instead Severus reached up for one entitled, 'Tree Lore, What Your Wands Are Made Of.'

Snape opened to the middle of the book, in a clear voice he began to read to the three adults the properties of the Elder tree, _"Folklore holds that it is unlucky to use Elder wood for a child's cradle, which should always be made out of Birch for a new start and inception."_ (Celtic Tree Oracle – Liz and Colin Murray) The two Hogwarts professors were giving each other knowing looks. Snape didn't hesitate at one word of it. The fact that Severus looked even smaller than his age, made it seem even odder. The boy went on to read about how the Elder tree in the Celtic tradition was related to Halloween. This is where the headmaster interrupted. He had heard enough to know this boy was exceptionally bright.

"You know it's getting close to Halloween," Dumbledore announced. He waved his wand and a candy apple appeared hovering in front of Severus. That made the boy put down the book. "You go ahead and enjoy that while your mother and I have a chat."

Before that chat took place crisis arrived. When Severus grabbed hold of the stick that held the treat and took a bite, there was a small cry of, "Ouch!"

"Oh dear," the old wizard muttered.

"It hurt my teeth"

"I'm sorry little one." Dumbledore made the candy apple disappear. "Foolish of me. I didn't think - - " He asked Eileen, "Do you mind if I had a look?"

"I - - " Eileen was afraid of what her old teacher might see, but she agreed. "Sev let Professor Dumbledore have a look."

Severus became defiant and clamped his mouth closed.

"Sev," Eileen said in her I am your mother and you'd best do as I say voice. "Open up."

His little face scrunched up before he obeyed.

Dumbledore's eyes widened when he saw the condition of the boys teeth. "Dear me. Perhaps we should take a walk to see the Matron."

"Sir you have already - - "

As if he knew she was about to protest, Dumbledore held up a hand. "Do not give it a second thought. I imagine living in the muggle world has not been easy. If we here at Hogwarts can assist a future student as well as a past one, I will see it done."

Suppressing the feeling that she was going to be condemned as a neglectful mother, Eileen nodded her consent. "Thank you." She had learned a lot of pride swallowing in the muggle world.

Before they left the headmaster told the boy, you may borrow that book until you return. His mind taken off of his hurting teeth for a moment he picked up the book as if it were made of something precious. "Thanks."

Severus couldn't remember ever being poked and prodded so much. Nor had he ever had as many potions slid down his throat; One to strengthen those loose teeth, one for growth, and other ones to help make the child healthy as possible.

"I must say," the Matron huffed. "I have never seen a child in such a condition." This was at a time when young Snape wasn't that bad off.

Eileen burned with embarrassment again. She held back the words she wanted to say, 'things cost money in the muggle world.' Of course things cost money in the wizarding world as well, but it was different. "I've done my best," was what came out of her mouth instead.

A look from Dumbledore stopped the Matron from reprimanding, 'well your best isn't that good.' Instead she cleared her throat. She did however say, "Better get some food into both of them."

"We have not had our breakfast yet," McGonagal informed. "I believe we can just make it."

The headmaster wondered if letting the child see the great hall now would spoil his first day. The idea of first years going across the lake in the boats from the train was to add to the impressiveness of the great hall when they arrived. Maybe he would forget in those years. Either way, that was where they went. As expected the boy's eyes widened on seeing the ceiling look like it was the sky. "Coooool." That was before he got a look at all the food on the tables. His attention to the roof was gone. "Look Mum." Sev pointed to the first table in the rows. "Slytherin." He pointed up to the green and silver banners. "Can we sit with them?"

McGonagal wondered out loud, "Why don't you sit with the Gryffindors?"

She was greeted with a scrunched up face. "Mum was a Slytherin, I'm going to be a Slytherin."

"I see. And what if the sorting hat has something else to say about that?" She assumed the boy had been told about the hat.

"I don't think so."

There weren't many students left at breakfast. It was mostly the slow risers still there, so it was mostly empty.

"Well then," Dumbledore said. "In honor of our little guest, we'll sit with Slytherin today."

McGonagal wondered how she got roped into this part of the visit. This was a first, and a last.

"Hello Slytherin," the headmaster called out.

"Hello Headmaster," the Slytherin students called back.

"A former student of your house and her son are visiting us for a few hours today. We would like to join you for breakfast."

It wasn't so odd for the headmaster to sometimes sit at different tables, but the head of Gryffindor? That was monumental.

"Be our guests, Headmaster," one of the prefects still remaining offered.

The two professors and the two guests sat and began to dig into breakfast. The Gryffindor table looked at the head of their house and wondered what was going on.

One of the Slytherin girls asked the little boy how old he was.

Between bites of bacon, Severus held up five fingers on one hand and one on the other.

"Your six?"

After swallowing he said, "in a few months I'll be - - " He held up the same five with one hand and used the pinky and the ring finger to make his two. He made the hands dance in front of his face as he intoned, "Seven. One more year closer to eleven." The boy took a raisin scone and took a bite. Then he asked the girl, "Will you be here when I'm a first year?"

"I'm afraid not," She said. "I'm a seventh year now."

This seemed to disappoint the boy. Not having grown self-conscious yet he said to the seventeen-year old, "your pretty."

Several of the other Slytherin's laughed. "Shady Bleak 'as got a boyfriend," another older girl with black hair teased. Maybe you can bring the squirt to the Halloween dance."

"Hush Bella," a much younger blond girl said. "I think it's cute."

"What does my little sister know about cute?"

"She thinks I'm cute," a boy with long blond hair said.

"That's not saying much is it Malfoy?"

The table erupted in laughter again and people went back to their breakfast. Severus was working on a second scone when he pointed to something behind Dumbledore that seemed to frighten him. "Wha - - what's - - who's that."

Dumbledore turned to see the grounds keeper. "That is Hagrid."

"Hello there, Eileen," Hagrid said. "I heard that your little one was here." The half giant sat next to Sev. "I'm Hagrid."

"So Dumbdoors said," Snape timidly said.

"It's proper to now tell me your name."

"Severus."

Hagrid held out his hand. It was as big as the boy's entire head. "How do you do Sev'rus?"

The boy's hand, the size of one of Hagrid's fingernails was held out for shaking, "Very well thank you Hagrid."

"I thought if your Mum had some talking to do with Professor Dumbledore, maybe you'd like to come and see some the new creatures in my hut."

Severus wasn't sure what to think. He wasn't about to just go off to something called a hut with this man who could squash him with an eyelash.

"That might be nice," Eileen told her son. "Finish up your breakfast and you can go see some of the magical creatures."

Severus still looked like this was a dubious prospect. "I suppose."

"You suppose now," Hagrid put in. "But once you've see them, you'll be glad you went."

"We'll see."

tbc


	20. Pure Of Heart

_Author's note: I forgot when I was writing that I had the idea that the matron would ask, "How long did the muggles have the child?" She would be told, "Only overnight." She would give Eileen a scathing look. (I'll have to remember that when I fix things)_

_This chapter went in a different direction than I had intended, but in a good way, I hope._

Wonderful chapter 20

Pure Of Heart

Severus' mother seemed to think it was all right for him to go with the man who was the biggest person he'd ever seen. The boy wasn't too nervous when Hagrid said, "Come on now little feller, follow me."

Sev wasn't sure he like being called 'little' and 'feller' sounded like he was calling a dog. He went along anyway. Hagrid talked the entire time. "Now my cottage is a fair walk down this hill, try to keep up." Each one of Hagrid's steps were about ten of Severus'. The little boy managed to stay not so far behind. "Oh, look o'er there," Hagrid continued. "There's Professor Kettleburn teaching some first years." He pointed away from what Sev figured was Hagrid's cabin. "I nearly forgot. He's got something special to show them today. You're in luck. I think you'd like to see it as well. Let's go see."

A huffing and puffing Snape trotted after Hagrid on his side trip. "I help Professor Kettleburn take care of all the magical creatures hear at Hogwarts. I'm hoping that when he retires, that will be a long way off, I'll know enough to maybe teach care of magical creatures myself." Hagrid hadn't noticed that Severus was getting further behind, until he turned to look. "Oh, sorry there Sev'rus. I forgot you were just a little sprout."

Hagrid stopped walking to let Severus catch up, but he didn't stop talking. "It takes quite a long time to know as much as Professor Kettleburn knows about taking care of magical creatures." He saw the youngster struggling to catch up. "You are quite smaller than the first years. I'm not used to being around kids younger than eleven, then am I?" Before Sev knew it, Hagrid was picking him up in one hand and placing him up on his gigantic shoulder. "Mind you don't pull my hair now." Snape tried to say that he wouldn't, but Hagrid never gave him an inch to. "I bet you're just going to love seeing Sharppie. He was just born a few weeks ago. He's tiny just like you; Professor Kettleburn wanted to give him a little going over to make sure everything was all right. He's about the only one Sharppie's mum would let touch him. She wouldn't even let me, and I've known her since she was born." Hagrid stopped to take a breath. "You don't say much do you Sev'rus?"

Sev didn't have time to answer as Professor Kettleburn called out, "Hello there Hagrid."

"Hello Professor Kettleburn."

"What kid of a creature have you got perched up on your shoulder my young friend?" Kettleburn laughed as he teased.

"Why it's a little wizard," Hagrid joked back. He put Severus down right in front of the professor and the class.

"I can see that. What are you doing with it?"

The other children were all looking directly at Snape. That and the fact that the new adult he had met was missing an arm scared him a bit. He turned back towards Hagrid. It seemed to be the only safe place. He hid behind the groundskeeper's humongous leg.

"I brung him here to see Sharppie." Hagrid looked at the boy hiding behind him. "But if he don't come out, he won't get to see him." The large man turned and knelt down to Severus' size. "You do want to see Sharppie, don't you Sev'rus?"

Severus nodded. He didn't know what Sharppie was, but Hagrid saying how neat it would be had made him want to see what ever it was.

"Then go on over where the other kids are."

Sev shook his head at first.

"Aww, you're braver than that aren't you?"

Snape shrugged.

"I bet you are."

Severus looked around Hagrid towards Professor Kettleburn and the class.

"Go on with you now." Hagrid sidestepped so that Sev was not behind him anymore. Severus turned to look up at Hagrid one more time before deciding it was safe to join the other young wizards.

"Well there," Professor Kettleburn greeted. "Let our guest in to see."

The group of first years parted and let Severus see what they had been blocking from his view. Kneeling in the semicircle of young witches and wizards was a creature that looked like a white horse with a spiral horn growing from its forehead. In front of that there pranced a miniature of it; this was Sharppie, a unicorn colt. Severus' mouth gaped at the sight. One of the kids had said, "Aren't they fantastic?" Sev agreed. In his short life he had never seen anything that beautiful. He asked, "Who do they belong to?"

"They don't belong to anyone," Kettleburn explained. "They're free. They live in the forest."

"That must be a great place."

"In some ways yes; in some ways no." The little boy tilted his head in a questioning expression at the man's statement. "There are dangerous things that live there as well."

"Then why don't they go somewhere else?"

Kettleburn smiled. "You'll understand when you're older."

It seemed to Severus that was the stock answer many adults gave little kids when they didn't want to answer. Severus didn't peruse the question any further. He seemed content with watching the unicorn and her colt. With everyone watching Sharppie frolic, no one noticed Severus taking tentative steps, away from the group, towards the unicorn foal. Sharppie didn't appear to be afraid of the little wizard who was getting closer to him. Sharppie's mother on the other hand was not so inclined to let a strange human, no matter how small that close to her offspring. She stood and gave a threatening snort in Snape's direction. Her head was lowered; her horn at the ready, yet she did not charge.

Simultaneous with the unicorn's intimidation the class gasped; Kettleburn said, "Oh dear not another one", and Hagrid moved toward the little boy in hopes to scoop him up before anything could happen. Severus stood frozen, instinct told him he should not move. Something else told him to say, "Windwillow, I won't hurt your baby."

Hagrid thought something funny was going on. No one had told Sev the unicorn mare's name. He mumbled to himself, "Kid magic?"

Windwillow raised her head, so as not to be pointing her horn at the boy, but still looking directly at him. Sharppie on the other hand had no reservations on getting closer to said boy. Severus was still frozen in place; so afraid of the mare that he couldn't bother to faint. Sharppie playfully nuzzled Severus under his chin, then promptly pushed him so Snape ended up sitting, legs out in front, in the grass. The boy still didn't move, when the unicorn cold's nose touched him, he was flooded with a feeling of pure magic that he could have never imagined. Sharppie circled around the seated child, bucking in the air every few steps. He wanted someone to play with him.

"I'll be - - " Kettleburn muttered.

"I don't believe it," Hagrid added.

"She wouldn't let any of us touch him," one of the students quietly said. "Professor, I thought you said a unicorn would only let people with the purest of hearts touch them."

"I did," Kettleburn replied. He was still in shock himself realizing the ramifications of that fact. This little one must have a pure heart. He wasn't so sure this would be an asset to the child, he knew that even the purest of hearts could be corrupted and/or shattered; only time would tell. At that point in time he only knew he was witnessing something rare and special. He himself had to go through days of purification rituals to be able to go near the unicorns, yet here was a boy who could walk right up to them, now even gently playing with the foal.

Hagrid as well stood looking on in awe. No matter how snarky, brooding, cross, dark, sour, gloomy, resentful, revenge driven, cruel, unkind, callous, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, downright nasty, or any other adjective often used to describe Severus Snape in future, Hagrid would always remember this moment and, until a fateful day more than thirty years later, could think no ill of him.

tbc


	21. Hagrid's Place

**_I forgot sneaky and conniving, lol_**

_Surprise, two posts in one day._

Wonderful chapter 21

Hagrid's Place

The time that Severus spent unselfconsciously playing with Sharppie was all too short. Ten or so minutes after they had started to chase each other back and forth, another unicorn, this one black in color stood at the edge of the forest. Kettleburn saw him first. "Ah, it looks as if Stormcrow has come to collect his family." As if on cue, Windwillow stood and pushed Sharppie away from the little wizard, towards the forest. "Perhaps we'll get to see them again sometime later this year."

Sev was a bit disappointed. He wouldn't be there sometime later this year. He called after the tiny unicorn, "Bye Sharppie." Sharppie gave a nod of acknowledgement to the boy.

Hagrid called after Severus, "I'll show you some other magical creatures back o'er at my cabin." He added, "If any of you others would like to see, you can come along. Unless you have classes that is."

A group of about ten walked over to Hagrid showing their interest in seeing some of the other animals in their spare time. They and Severus followed the large man back across the hills to his cabin. The inside of the cabin was not too tidy. In every corner of it there was something; if not an animal itself, there were all kinds of eggs, things to care or, feed the animals. Unknown to the children, thankfully, some of the animals were to be fed the other ones. Snape was immediately interested in something that looked familiar. He saw a ferret sleeping next to Hagrid's fireplace. It was a lot bigger than Mrs. Tangles' Ferris. Four times as bigger to be exact. Snape sat on the hearth and watched it sleep while the other children were looking at something Hagrid was talking about.

As if it knew she knew she was being watched, what Severus believed to be an ordinary ferret, opened an eye. Then she opened the other. To Severus' surprise and shock, she actually spoke. Not like how Ferris did inside of his mind, but out loud. "What are you looking at you shit-faced gob?"

"I beg your pardon," a shocked Sev intoned.

"You heard what I said you snot nosed little bleep."

"You're not very nice."

"And you're a bleepitty bleeping bleep."

This last statement made Severus run strait to Hagrid and tell him, "Your ferret is swearing at me."

"My ferret?" Hagrid seemed confused. He looked over to where Sev had run from. "Oh, you mean Jarvina. She's not a ferret."

"Course not," Jarvina exclaimed. "Little bleep doesn't know the difference between a ferret and a jarvey."

"Jarvey?" Sev wondered out loud, "What's a jarvey?"

"I am little shit head."

"You best go outside Jarvina," Hagrid ordered. "Seeing as there's an awful lot of little ears in here."

As she climbed out of the window Jarvina added, "Lot of little bleeps you mean."

"Sorry bout that children." Hagrid was clearly embarrassed. It was normal behavior for a Jarvis to speak rudely. "Just forget what you've heard." It was unlikely Severus would forget them. His father would repeat them on a regular basis. Hagrid's eyes landed on something he thought some of the children might be interested in. "As some of you are Slytherin - - " At this word Severus became acutely interested in what Hagrid was saying. " - - You might like to see the mokes."

"The what?"

"Mokes." Hagrid pulled out a basket with a latched cover. "They're sleeping now, but I'll let you see them." He unlatched the hook that held down the cover. Inside the basket there were about fifteen green and sliver lizards. "See they're your house colors." The three Slytherin were keen to take a closer look.

One asked, "Are they dangerous?"

"Fraid not," Hagrid admitted.

"Then what do they do?"

"Well - - " Hagrid looked around till he found Severus. "If Sev'rus will pick one up, you'll see."

"Me?" Severus questioned.

"Seeing as you're our guest today."

Severus went over to the basket. He looked unsure. "They aren't going to bite me, are they?"

"You're a suspicious little one aren't you?"

"That's not an answer."

"Clever too. No they won't bite you."

A tiny hand reached into the basket and picked one of the silver-green lizards up. Straight away the half a foot long moke shrank to half its size. It made the little wizard drop it."

"That's what mokes do."

"Shrink if you touch them?" A Gryffindor boy said. "Just like a real Slytherin?" The non-Slytherins all got a good laugh out of that.

"Now, none of that here," Hagrid stopped the fight before it started. "You should be getting along with each other. Now if you can behave, each of you can pick up a moke. Just don't go losing them." The children all picked up one of the mokes when they shrank these older kids did not drop them. They sat in different places and played with them. Hagrid noticed that Severus had not picked up a moke again. He was looking cross at the boy who had made the crack about Slytherins. Hagrid took Snape to a quiet corner of the cabin to ask him, "What's that look for?"

"Why did those other kids laugh at what that boy said?"

"There's always been a bit of rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but it's been getting worse lately."

"Why?"

"I suspect it has a lot to do with you know who."

"No I don't know who."

Hagrid shook his head and blinked. "No you wouldn't. You're too young to know about that."

"About what?"

"Never you mind. The less you know about you know who the better."

tbc


	22. Selfish

Wonderful chapter 22

Selfish

While her son was enjoying seeing the magical creatures, Eileen was being treated to a somewhat less enjoyable experience, a cross-examination from Professor Dumbledore. Of course this grilling came in the form of concern. "You do not look well Eileen."

Ele did not respond. She didn't know what to say. He was right; she didn't look well. She wasn't well.

"I've known quite a few witches and wizards who have married muggles. There are always difficulties, but most do not have the troubles I think you are facing."

"I will admit that things are not going the way I had expected." Eileen admitted, "Things are not going well for me."

"It seems to be Severus who's paying the price."

Eileen knew this was true as well. "The funny thing about this conversation is that you were the one who opened my eyes about muggles not being as bad as my family believed them to be."

"If you learned that from me," Dumbledore acknowledged, "I do not regret that. I know full bloods whose marriages were disasters as well."

"In other words," Ele had as sarcastic tone in her voice. "I picked the wrong muggle?"

"You know better than I."

"I made my choice, even if it was the wrong one, I have to live with it."

"Not to be rude - - " a true sign that he was going to be. "But there is such a thing as divorce."

"Not to be rude - - " a sure sigh that she was about to be. "You've never been married."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. She had him there. He had never chosen to share his life with another that closely. "You love him." It was a statement not a question. "You're sure you not staying just so you don't have to eat your father's crow pie?"

Instead of answering that question, Eileen told Dumbledore, "My father wants a squib test."

Sock crossed Dumbledore's face. "After what happened to your nephew?"

"That just reinforced his conviction that he was right."

"I always knew Radu Prince was a antediluvian but this takes the cake." The old wizard paced. "From what I can tell, your boy is safe. Magic will not let him down."

Eileen knew that magic would never let Severus down. The world had already started to, but magic would never let him down. "My father is a stubborn man. I don't think I could prevent it."

"If your father is that bone headed, there is always the scholarship fund."

Eileen bristled at that thought. "You know, I may be down, but I still have some pride."

"I did not mean to offend. I just want you to know if you need help, it is here."

"I needed help to get Sev away from those people. You have obliged. Right now that is enough."

Back at Hagrid's the first years were becoming antsy. Some of them were ready to go back to the castle. Severus never stopped throwing dagger looks at the boy who had made the wisecrack. Hagrid's explanation only gave the boy more questions. Hagrid could see the boy was still upset. "You're not still brooding o'er what Tihon said are you Sev'rus?"

Maybe." The boy pouted. "Are Slytherin and Gryffindor enemies?"

"Enemies? I wouldn't say enemies, just rivals."

"Why?"

"Well, when you get older, you'll find that different people have different ideas about what's right and wrong. I hate to say it, you're Mum being Slytherin and all, but some Slytherin have bad reputations."

"So you think Slytherins are bad?"

"Not all, just some. And those some have really gone bad. One particular Slytherin did something terrible, then blamed me." Hagrid's statement made the boy look even more puzzled. "I got sent to Azkaban and everything."

"That's not good."

"You know about Azkaban then do you?"

"There were some men, from the ministry of magic at our house. They said I best behave or they'd send me there." The boy now looked scared.

"Don't you fret, they don't send kids to Azkaban."

"Not even really bad kids?"

"They'd have to be really bad." Hagrid reassured. "Yer not a bad kid. Sharppie wouldn't play with you if you were a bad kid."

"He wouldn't?"

"He would not. Now you stop all this talk about being bad. I've got something special to show you." Hagrid led Severus outside the cabin, past the pumpkin patch, just outside of the forbidden forest. Hanging out over 'safe' territory there was a tree branch. On that tree branch there was a circle of twigs. To Snape this meant nothing. In the city he had never seen a bird's nest.

Hagrid had wanted to show the boy something special, but when he looked into the nest he was glad he had not lifted the boy first. An "Oh no," escaped from the huge man's lips. He didn't tell the boy, but the mother bird was gone. This was a type of bird whose behavior was that the mother never left the nest, unless the father hadn't come back with food. Four of the six baby birds were still alive. Hagrid gently took them out of the nest and placed them in his pocket. "We're going to have to hand feed these."

"We?"

"Yer going to help, aren't you?"

"Sure."

Back inside Hagrid made a new nest out of a towel, and told Severus, "Now you keep an eye on them while I mix up some grub for them."

Severus nodded. The tiny blue birds weren't doing much of anything except opening their mouths, yet they were not peeping. While Hagrid mashed up grubs to put into eyedroppers he told the boy about the birds. "These are Jobberknols. If you're lucky, when they're older they'll give you a feather or two for a memory potion."

Ignoring what Hagrid had just told him. As if the chicks were suspect Severus asked, "Aren't birds supposed to sing?"

"Like I said, they are Jobberknols. They don't make no sound till - - Maybe I better not tell you about that." Hagrid paused. "Some people use them as spy birds, but you have to - - better not tell you about that either."

What Hagrid wasn't telling the boy was that when the birds died it gave a cry of everything they had ever heard. So if placed in strategic places, the bird would repeat what it had heard, of course one had to kill it first. Only dark wizards did that.

"Here now." Hagrid put a bird in front of Severus. "You take care of this one." He called two other kids over to take care of two other ones and he took care of the last. "Like this now." He showed the kids to hold up the eyedroppers in substitute of the mother's beak. "Now be careful, they're rather fragile." After they had fed the little birds Hagrid told the children, "Now try to keep them warm." He gave them each a cloth to wrap the chicks up in.

Severus had his little bird nestled in the cloth on his lap in a corner by himself. It did not take long for the little boy to become attached to the baby bird. It did not take long for one of the kids that didn't get to take care of one of the birds to try and take it away from him.

"Let me hold it for a while," the eleven year old asked the almost seven.

"No. Hagrid told me to take care of it," Severus maintained. "It's mine!"

"It is not yours." The other boy tried to take it.

"Yes it is." Severus turned to block the other child from grabbing it away.

"You're supposed to share."

"Who says?"

"I want to hold the bird."

"Forget it." Severus was going to make sure this little twit didn't get his bird. He took off for the other side of Hagrid's cabin.

The pest followed him. "Let me hold it."

"You keep your paws off my bird."

Hagrid noticed there was an argument but didn't hear what they were saying. "What are you two arguing about?"

The Hogwarts kid told, "I want to hold the bird."

Severus had in the fray taken the bird between his hands and held on to it tightly. "He wants to take away my bird."

"I just want to see it."

"NO!" Sev ran in a different direction to keep the bird away from the kid. He ran out of the cabin before Hagrid could stop him. Following close behind, when he got outside he saw Severus had fallen down. The boy sat back up and franticly looked in his hands. The bird was yelling out, "It's mine. It's mine." Then the bird stopped moving. A little red drop was coming out of its eye. Tears flowed down the boy's face as he asked Hagrid to, "Fix it. Use your wand to fix it."

"I don't have a wand," Hagrid admitted.

The boy didn't care. He again asked, "Fix it Hagrid, fix it."

The man was not sure what he should do. He knew that kids had to learn about death sooner or later. He thought Severus should learn that there were consequences to the actions one took. Still, the boy was only a few years old, a little bird himself. Hagrid tried to trick the boy. He took the dead chick and mumbled some words before sneaking out the live one he had in his pocket and presented it to the boy. "Look all better." Severus reached for it, but Hagrid stopped him. "I think I better hang on to it now."

Severus was taking a good look at the bird in the half giant's hand. "That's not my bird."

"Your bird."

"That's not the same bird." Severus was clever. "You've just substituted another." The tone in little Snape's voice lowered. He sounded menacing. "You're a deceiver. Where is MY bird?"

Hagrid knew he had blown the moment, but didn't like the transformation that had occurred in the little one. "I was only trying to - - "

"To trick me," Sev snarled.

"Now look here young man. Do you know what you've done?"

"What I've done?"

Hagrid took the dead bird out of his pocket. He allowed his own emotions to get the better of him. "Your bird is dead. It's not coming back. No amount of magic can bring back something that's dead."

The anger he had felt at Hagrid switching the birds was replaced by a dreadful realization. "I - - killed it?"

Hagrid felt a twinge of regret that he had not held his tongue. "It were an accident. I know you didn't mean to."

Severus saw his mother with Dumbledore heading down the hill from the castle. He bolted in their direction strait to his mother's leg. He buried his face in her coat and cried.

"Sev?" Eileen questioned, "What's wrong?" She took him up in her arms.

"I - - " Sniff. "I killed it."

"What are you talking about?"

Dumbledore was looking down toward a defeated looking Hagrid back beside the cabin as the boy explained. "I squashed it. I didn't mean to. The other boy tried to take it away from me. It was mine, he shouldn't have tried to take it." Tears burst forth again. As Eileen tried to calm her son, the headmaster went to talk to Hagrid.

"What happened?"

"I was letting the kids take care of some Jabberknol chicks and one of the other kids tried to take the one Sev'rus was holding. He's a possessive little fellow. He ran out here and fell, swishing the chick." Hagrid looked a bit red at this point. "He asked me to fix it, and I tried to fool him by switching it for this one." He showed the little blue bird in his large hand. "Sev'rus is a real smart kid."

"He knew it wasn't the same bird?"

"Yhea." Hagrid said with a nod. "He called me a liar and I may have been a bit harsh in telling him the bird was dead."

Dumbledore sighed. "Let this be a lesson for the future. It is not wise to try and fool an intelligent child, no matter how young. And switching the birds to spare the boy's feelings didn't teach him anything either."

"I told him it was an accident," Hagrid informed. "I don't think he believes it."

Dumbledore nodded. The headmaster motioned for Eileen to bring Severus over to where he was. Severus was still distraught. "Listen to me Severus, it was an accident that you squashed the little bird. Hagrid is sorry he tried to trick you. Do you think you can be friends again before I bring you and your mother home?"

Severus turned to look at Hagrid. He wiped the tears off of his face with his sleeve. He nodded in the affirmative. He did not however leave his mother's arms. He buried his face in her shoulder once again. He was still crying. Even though it was not late, it had been a long day.

tbc


	23. NOTE

Author's note:

Hi All,

I know It's been a while for an update here. I'm working on one but between work and other comitments, I've been tied up.

Tomorrow I have a lot of free time and hopefully will be writing.


	24. Things Remembered

_Sorry this is a bit short. This is going to be a long story._

Wonderful chapter 23

Things Remembered

Dumbledore side along apparated Eileen and Sev back to a place within sight of Spinners End. "Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you Eileen?"

"Not today."

The old wizard knew that there were a lot of things he could do for them, it was her Prince pride that kept Eileen from asking for help. "Then I shall say farewell, and good fortunes." With that Dumbledore was gone with a crack and a flash.

"That's neat," Severs said. "Why can't we do that?"

"I can," the mother explained. "But one needs a wand. You will be able to when you are older."

The child frowned. It seemed that everything that was fun or useful could only be done when one was older. 'Can't do real magic; can't have a wand; can't apparate; can't - - ' The boy sighed. The list was too long for the boy to recount. 'What good is being a wizard if all you can do is can't.'

On entering their home, Eileen put her son down at the foot of the stairs. "Why don't you go up to your room." The boy obliged not seeing what his mother had not wanted him to. Tobias was still passed out on the floor. She had hoped maybe he had woken up and gone to look for them, or gone to look for a job. 'Slim chances in that,' Ele thought to herself. She wasn't about to wake him either. 'Don't want to listen to his nonsense.' Going into the kitchen changed her mind. Last night she had not seen what her husband had done instead of looking for their son. Every single one of her potions had been unceremoniously dumped down the sink, the empty bottles draining in a stack. Visions of the magical brews making their way to the nearby river and wondering what would happen to anything that came in contact with it before the water diluted it made their way through her mind.

Now she did not want to leave her husband in peaceful sleep. Toby woke to the shrill voice of his enraged wife. "YOU!" She kicked him. "You drunken, useless, worthless, dung pile of an excuse for a man."

"Love you too sweet-heart." Toby laughed. "You ugly hag, hateful, boring, bitchy excuse for a woman. You find the boy?"

If her look could burn, Eileen's gaze would have bore a hole right though her husband's face. "Yes, our son is safe. No thanks to you." Then she remembered the people who had held Severus in a car trunk over night. "Mr. Snapeivitsky."

This sobered Tobias up. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me."

"Dang, we haven't gone by that in - - "

"A few hundred years?"

"Except for that Romanian bunch that just came over."

"You knew. You knew you had relatives that were witch hunters."

A laugh that was a cross between mirth and maniacal came forth from Toby. "How do you think I caught you?"

Eileen had never wanted her wand in her hand as much as she did at that moment. "You didn't use any powers to, as you say, catch me."

Tobias seemed not to care if she knew now all of his machinations. "I used the knowledge of your world, passed down for generations, to enter it." The man stood to circle his wife. "Learning all I could about the most affluent of the wizarding families, I then went on a search for the most desperate unmarriable among their daughters. You won. So I gave you the attention you so desperately craved. Is that what you want to hear? Is that what you think?"

It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it was what she often thought. In the beginning of their romance she was too caught up in the whirlwind to think about Tobias' motives. As he changed she began to think. As she thought, she began to believe he couldn't possibly really love her; truly love her. Then she would think of the little boy upstairs and knew that at some point in time they had loved each other.

"Do you remember when we met?" Tobias asked her.

_(Flashback)_

It was a formal ball, a sort of graduation/coming out for the Hogwarts class of '58, those that were of the pureblood families of course. Some exceptional halfbloods might have been invited, but they were few. _[Thinking of it now, Ele wondered how Toby did get in there._ Maybe that was why her guard was down. Who would have imagined a muggle being there? She did not have the same prejudices others there had, but she didn't expect it. Everyone was dressed in their finest formalwear. Being a bit of a tomboy, wearing a fancy dress was the most uncomfortable thing for Eileen Prince. It itched and pulled her in places she'd rather not be itched and pulled. She sat there with the other young wizarding debutantes on the opposite side of the room from the wizarding dilettantes trying not to pull at those places especially the wedgie that was not making its presence known. Some of her wizard cousins had been polite enough to say they would save a dance for her, but she saw them all waltzing away with all of those so-called 'pretty' witches.

Eileen's elbow found her knee and her knuckles found the side of her face making her sit in a pose that she often had. She looked as if she were bored out of her mind and wanted to be anywhere but there. If it hadn't been expected of her, she would have never shown up. She may have been of age, but she still lived under her father's roof, and she had never been a disobedient child. That was all about to change.

"Miss. would you like a glass of punch?" Eileen had heard the voice, but she assumed the speaker was talking to Serena Black who she was sitting next to. Miss. Black seemed to want nothing to with the speaker especially when he made it clear whom he was speaking to. "Miss. Prince?"

Eileen looked up to see a young man who was neither tall or short, thin nor hefty; he seemed ordinary, except for the extraordinarily large nose in the middle of his face. She was not one to complain about another person's appearance and there was something in his hazel colored eyes that drew her in. She found herself actually agreeing. "I guess, Mr. - - "

"Snape; Tobias Snape." The young man handed the young lady one of the drinks he held.

Eileen took a sip and asked, "And I'm supposed to know you how?" He obviously wasn't from Hogwarts. Thinking him a wizard, she wondered if he were home schooled or foreign.

"You don't," Toby admitted. "I asked someone your name."

Playing the snooty pureblood, which she nearly never did, she pointed out, "A proper gentleman would have asked for an introduction."

"Perhaps I'm not a proper gentleman."

This made Eileen's cheeks flush. "At least you admit it."

"Listen - - " Toby was going to be bold. "I'm new around here, and as I was looking around, you looked as bored as I am."

Eileen raised an eyebrow. This was supposed to be a pick up line?

"You wouldn't want to ditch, and go have some fun?"

At this the young woman almost snorted punch out of her nose.

Toby feigning that he had said something improper blurted out, "I didn't mean to imply - - "

"I hope not." Actually a small part of Eileen Prince almost wanted a strange man to approach her and make an improper gesture. She had hardly been a social butterfly at Hogwarts. Still it wasn't as if she had never been kissed. After their champion winning gobstone season, Ele and one of her fellow teammates found themselves celebrating a bit too cozily than planned. After that the boy forgot she existed.

"I know a place not too far from here that has great food and music for people our age," Toby enticed. "Not for the over a hundred crowd you know." His hand was held out.

This made Ele laugh. She looked around the room. None of her family were watching, she was an adult after all, so she took his hand and left the ball.

TBC


	25. Eileen and Tobias Sitting in a Tree

Wonderful chapter 24

Eileen and Toby Sitting in a Tree

"How far is this place?" Ele pictured the two of them apparating to some place far off. Toby had other ideas.

"Only a few blocks away," he told her. They were in London, not far from the Black residence. So thy walked a few blocks to a place that didn't look like anyone respectable would be caught dead in.

"We're a bit overdressed for here," Ele pointed out.

Wanting to keep her thinking he was one of her own Toby said, "I'll let you do the honor of changing that."

Looking for a place where it would be safe to do magic, Ele motioned for Toby to follow around a corner. She took out her wand and changed their clothes so thy looked like fashionable people of their age. They went back and walked down the stairs to the subterranean club. Perhaps Tobias couldn't do magic, but he had no problem making money appear that night. He paid he cover charge, then continued to pay for martinis and any food Ele may have wanted as they sat and listened to the jazz band play. After a while they even danced. As they danced, Toby got a bit friendlier. Eileen didn't object.

Eileen was having fun, but she wasn't sure what she wanted. She and Tobias had just met. After a few hours of close dancing and innocent snogs, she said she had to leave. Tobias knowing what she was knew better than to try and stop her from going home.

"Meet me here tomorrow then?" When he said this Toby looked hopeful, and those eyes were working on Ele again.

After one more kiss she asked, "When."

"Eight."

"All right."

She hadn't really kept track of the time. It was late; or rather it was early in the morning when she arrived back at the Prince fortress. This home was not meant for showing off the wealth of the family to others, it was meant for keeping everyone out. Only a close member of the family could make it into those bastions. Set on high cliffs not even the sea could reach its walls. All it could do was broil and threaten on the sharp rocks below.

Eileen thought it safe to apparate into a large hall that abutted all of the living chambers rather than strait into hers. She was mistaken. Her father awoke on hearing the sound of apparation. She knew she was going to get an earful as soon as she saw him across the room sleeping in his favorite chair.

Radu Prince, a very old wizard expounded, "I expected to find you here reading one of your books when the rest of us returned from the Avery's. You could have at least tried to mix in."

"Obviously, I was not here."

"So where has my youngest been off to all these hours?"

"Out."

"Do you really think I'm going to accept an answer like that?"

"No, but it's the one you're going to get."

The young woman wondered if she had provoked her father. He looked a bit shocked.

"Can I make the assumption that you may have been with a young man?"

"Yes Father, believe it or not."

The elder Prince said in a deep drawn out voice, "I hope it was someone worthy of your position in the wizarding world."

"I'm too tired for the cross examination right now. I'll explain tomorrow."

"I suppose."

The younger Prince went to bed with no intention of explaining anything. She didn't know if Tobias Snape was worthy of 'her position in the wizarding world.' She didn't care; he seemed good enough to her. She hated her father's idea of who she be looking at as possible suitors. Who he thought worthy; 'Julian Malfoy, that windbag; Audric Avery imbecile; Mondock Mulciber eww; Timothy Truicutt way too old; Leonid Black absolutely not.' It wasn't really as if any of these had taken any interest in Eileen Prince either.

In the morning Ele didn't even get breakfast she was off to her job brewing potions for a large apothecary chain. Work was not something Eileen really needed, it just kept her skills up while waiting to hear of one of the masters would take her on as an apprentice. All that day she found it difficult to concentrate, she was thinking of eight-o-clock. She was thinking of hazel eyes, a quick wit, soft lips, and a pair of strong hands.

Not wanting to go home before meeting up with Tobais, she did her best to clean up in the washroom there at work. That and a bit of handy wand work made her look, presentable. Eileen tried not to look in the mirror for too long, if she did, she might chicken out and not meet the young man. It was early when she arrived at the muggle club. Nervously she waited at the steps. She listened for any sound of apparating. That was something she would not hear. Looking up one time she saw Toby walking towards her. There was a flutter in her heart. It was ridiculous, they had just met, but wasn't that how love was supposed to be? Ridiculous and wonderful; that was how she felt. There was no awkward hesitation when the two of them embraced.

"You're here," Toby said.

"You thought I wouldn't be?" Ele asked.

"I was afraid."

It seemed sweet that he had been the one to worry about being stood up. Normally the opposite was true. This time, she had none of her normal fears. She knew he'd be there. This night the club did not have a live band. They played records of popular rock-and-roll. Tobias and Eileen worked up a sweat to the sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, the Coasters, Chuck Berry and other American musicians that were the rage of the day. Intermixed with the fast songs were some slow ones sung by Perry Como and Bobby Darren. The two of them laughed hard when silly songs such as the Witch Doctor or Purple People Eater were played. Ele asked if these muggles 'had ever even seen a purple people eater.' If they had, they certainly would know they all had at least three horns, even if they all did have the one eye. Toby was strangely silent.

What he did say was, "Let's go somewhere quiet. Somewhere we can be alone."

In the middle of London, there was no such thing. "I know a place," Ele came up with. They were around the corner again so they could apparate. Eileen took her wand out telling Toby the name of the beach she was thinking of.

"I don't have a wand at the moment," Tobias lied. He never did have a wand.

"Take my hand." The two young people held hands and Eileen apparated them to a lonely stretch of ocean side. The wind whipped their hair in their faces.

"April's a bit early for the beach," Toby commented as sand blew in their faces.

Ele reached for his hand and they again appparated to another place. "This better?" It was a secluded garden, closed for the night.

"Perfect."

What followed, followed every night for the next two weeks. They would spend the early evenings living the high life, then go some place quiet to get to know each other extremely well. It was about then that Eileen began to get suspicious about why Tobias never had a wand, or done the tinniest bit of magic all that time. "Toby," she asked, "Are you a squib?"

Tobias stopped kissing Eileen's face on hearing her question. "A squib - - "

"It's all right if you are. I just would like to know."

"You know I love you."

"That's not the question."

"You love me?"

"I told you it didn't matter if you were a squib."

"That's not an answer."

"I asked you first."

This was the moment Toby was going to find out if he had 'caught' Ele. He knew she would find out eventually. He was taking a big gamble. Maybe she'd be angry for a few days, or hex him seven ways to Sunday. "Eileen, I'm not a squib. But I can't keep lying to you. I'm - - a muggle."

The first thing out of Eileen's mouth was not a good sign. "Oh shhhiiiit." She sat up. Her arms wrapped around her head. "This is not happening."

"If you love me it shouldn't matter," Toby reasoned.

"It doesn't matter to me you idiot," Ele bemoaned. "But it sure is going to matter to my father. He's been asking to meet you. He'll never give us permission to marry."

"What if we just did? Then he'd have to deal with it."

How would Eileen's father deal with it? How much did She want him? She could still walk away from him, except for the feeling that it may have already been too late. She loved him, and proof of that love might be growing inside of her at that very moment.

Toby didn't give her time to over think it. "Let's not separate tonight, then in the morning we can go somewhere and get married."

"Tomorrow, morning?"

"Kind of romantic huh?"

(Flash forward)

'Kind of stupid,' Eileen thought now. Again she thought of the reason they would have to have gotten married anyway. In those days it was just what was done. In Ele's mind, she had to believe her son had been conceived in love not just passion. There had to have been some magic present those first weeks, or Severus would have been born a squib. She had to believe that, or she'd go crazy.

tbc


	26. Believe What You Will

Wonderful chapter 25

Believe What You Will

Eileen didn't know what she should do with the rest of this stress filled day. She didn't want to leave Severus with the hung over Tobias, but she didn't want to miss the money she'd get for working at the pub. There was no more invisibility potion so Sev could go with her. At the moment all she wanted to do laws sleep.

Toby had the nerve to ask, "How about some food?"

"IF there's any left, get it yourself." Ele went upstairs, stopping in Severus' room first. "Hey you."

"What Mum?" Sev looked up from the parchment he had been doodling on.

"How you feeling?"

"All right." The boy went back to drawing.

"What are you making?"

"A picture of Hogwarts." The excited boy turned the parchment around to show his mother. It was a fairly decent representation of Hogwarts castle. There were some unicorns and a few witches and wizards. "This is everyone I met today. I still have to draw Dumbdoors and Haggid."

"You do that. Mum needs a rest. 

Severus went back to drawing the last two wizards. Eileen gave him a kiss on the top of his head before going to her own room. She fell into desperately needed sleep so deeply that she slept right through the time she was due to be at work. What woke her up was a commotion down stairs.

"Get out of my house!" Toby was yelling at someone.

"When I get my money," a voice unfamiliar to Eileen responded.

'What is going on down there?' Ele wondered. She went to the top of the stairs to see.

"It's not time yet," Toby pleaded.

"I told you Snape," it was the bookie, Stone. "That I would come by and remind you until you paid up." Stone was much taller and muscular than Tobias, so there was no escape from the blow. "And tomorrow, if I don't see my money, you can say good-bye to your knee caps." The thug made a finger gun and made a shooting motion towards one of Toby's knees. "Get the picture."

Eileen didn't dare move until the man left. She ran down to her husband. "Who was that?"

Toby spit out a tooth before answering, "The reason I need money."

"Merlin - - " Ele gasped. "What a mess you are." She grabbed a rag from the kitchen to soak up the blood. "No wand, no potion, you'll have to suffer."

"Like you don't think I deserve it."

"I think you should get off your drunk, stoned behind and get a job."

"A job isn't going to get me that money by tomorrow."

"How much?"

"Three hundred pounds."

A snarl and a groan came from Mrs. Snape. "And you think I made that working at a pub for a day?"

"No," Toby said. "I know you still have some stuff you can sell."

"I don't believe you."

-

Severus had long finished his picture of Hogwarts, and had begun another of him and the unicorn foal. 'I wonder if Sharppie has wings?' The boy's imagination was set off and he drew wings on his little friend. It had been a long day for him as well. Even thought he wanted to finish his drawings, Sev fell asleep right there on the parchment and charcoal. He did not wake up until hearing his father yelling at someone. It wasn't him. He hoped it wasn't his mother. Peking out of his door he saw Ele waiting to go downstairs so it wasn't her either. The boy wanted to stay as far away from Toby as possible, so he waited till Eileen came back up.

"That was the man who hurt Dad the other day?"

"Yes."

"He hurt Dad again?"

"Yes."

"If Dad doesn't get that man's money, will he go away and hide somewhere?"

Eileen looked at Severus. It looked as if the boy would be happy if Toby disappeared. "Maybe he'll get the money."

The boy rushed forward a little to say, "Only if you - - " He stopped mid sentence.

"If I don't give Daddy the money, he'll get hurt real bad." Eileen saw the look on her young son's face. It was that of something wild, feral, something that wanted bad things to happen.

"He huts us enough time." Severus' statement was true enough. "His turn."

His mother might have halfway agreed with that, but she was still blinded by love. "You mustn't say that."

"Why mustn't I?" The boy pouted. "It's true."

She had told him to be truthful, but he was finding out that the truth wasn't always what people wanted to hear.

"It's not nice."

"Neither is Dad."

"Severus Snape." Eileen rubbed her forehead. "When Daddy is - - "

While she searched for a delicate way to put it, her son said, "Drunk Mummy. The word is drunk." Sev did understand more than a kid his age should.

"He's not himself."

Again Severus had a way of going from overly mature back to a little kid. He rushed over to his mother and pleaded, "Turn him back Mummy."

If Eileen's heart had not been broken so many times in the last year, as Toby got worse and worse, the look in her son's eyes would have done it.

"This is one of those things I told you about. Something that can't be fixed by magic."

"What can fix it?"

Ele wasn't sure if she was telling Sev the truth, but it was the only thing she could think of. She wiped a charcoal smudge off of the boy's face with her sleeve before saying, "Love."

"Oh - - "

"You don't like that answer?"

Severus was very quiet. Eileen could see the boy milling something over in his head.

"I'm a bad boy."

"What? No you're not." She knelt down to hug her son.

"Daddy's drunk because of me."

"Don't say that."

The boy began to cry. "I don't love Daddy anymore." Eileen knew that children's emotions were often confused. She worried when he continued. "Not after the night before, and last night. He doesn't love me, and I don't love him anymore."

"You're being silly Sev." This was not the right thing to say. It silenced the child. He didn't like being called silly, even if it was by someone he still loved. Ele changed the subject. "Daddy's not going to be hurt." She knew it was a foolish thing to do but she was going to do it anyway. "I have an emerald bracelet I can sell and get the money to give the man."

"Mum?" Severus was clever for his age. "Why didn't you sell it when we needed food?"

This question jolted Eileen. She asked herself the same thing; why hadn't she?

"We can go without eating for a few days. Daddy can't go without his kneecaps."

"Can't he?"

Eileen wondered if Sev really understood what would happen if Stone weren't paid. "I'm going to make Daddy promise not to let it happen again."

A hiss of disbelief came from the boy. He did not believe it would happen. Cynicism came early to Severus Snape.

Ignoring the sound her son made, she told him, "I have to go to the pawn shop, then see if I still have a job. You stay up here and don't get into trouble. Can you do that for me?"

Sev nodded. He could do that. H didn't want to go down where Toby was. He didn't want to go outside either. He was still afraid of the witch hunters.

"You're a good boy Sev."

The boy wondered if his mother was telling the truth. She said Toby loved them and he knew Toby didn't.

When Eileen left Severus went back to his drawings. This time it was not of Hogwarts and flying away on a unicorn. It was of faceless wizards pointing their wands at a figure that looked a lot like Tobias Snape. "Hex, hex, hex." Sev pretended to hex his father and anyone else who had ever hurt him; the neighborhood boys, "Hex;" the witch hunters, "Hex;" the Gryffindor boy who had insulted Slytherin, "Hex."

Then the boy felt bad and counter cursed them all back to normal, all but Toby that is. He drew another picture of himself, as a grown up wizard, hexing Toby into a big ugly toad. That day, Severus' new name for his father was TODY. He was not ready to forgive what had been done and said because he knew, regardless of what his mother said, it was not the end of it.

tbc


	27. Family?

Wonderful chapter 26

Family?

When Eileen finally reached 'the Serpent's tongue' Joe was relieved to see her. "Thought something might have happened to ya'."

"I'm sorry I'm late my son - - had a problem."

"S'all right, these things happen. Yer here now."

For a muggle, Joe was all right. Eileen put on a bar apron and started working.

"Thought maybe something'd happened to Toby," Joe added.

"Oh?" Eileen acted unaware.

"It's goin' around Toby owes money to Stone. He ain't a man to cross."

"So I've heard."

"Some makes idol threats, not Stone," Joe warned. "He says he's gonna' do something, he does it."

A chill went up Ele's back as she notice one of the pub's patrons staring at her. She asked Joe, "Is that him?" She directed a look towards the man.

"Yeah, that's stone. You want I should throw him out?"

A warm feeling came over Eileen knowing that someone felt protective of her. "That's sweet of you, but I'll deal with him myself." She drew a pint and walked over to where Stone was sitting with a few of his cronies.

"Lads, look who it is," Stone said.

"Who's she?" On asked.

"Why this is Mrs. Tobias Snape. The resemblance between her and Toby's little brat is unmistakable."

Eileen plopped down the ale in front of Stone. She wished she had a potion to put in it. "I understand my husband owes you three hundred pounds."

"You're well informed," Stone replied.

The woman took the muggle money from a pocket and threw it on the table. "Now leave us alone."

"Oooh," the cronies chorused. "Leave them alone she says," one added with a laugh.

"If Toby is foolish enough to make a bet, why shouldn't I be the one to take it?"

"He won't be making anymore bets."

Now all of them were laughing.

"I suppose you believe in the tooth fairy too."

Ele didn't answer. In fact she was on good speaking terms with all of the tooth fairies, but she understood what the muggle meant. Stone drank the ale down in what seemed to be one glup.

"Thank you ma'am," Stone said as he pocketed the money. "I'll trust it's all here. I'm assuming you like Toby's knee caps." The thug and his cronies left.

Things went smoothly that night and Ele made a lot of tips despite not having any potions to put the customer in a good mood. It was close to closing time when a different sort of trouble came in the pub. Eileen looked up from wiping the bar to see grandpa Snapeivitsky and several other gypsy men coming in.

"Joe," she called in a whisper. "If you want to do some throwing out, start with those three." She indicated the men who had just entered.

"Oi, you there," Joe called out. The tone in his voice told his own 'lads' to keep a heads up. "This lady don't want you in here."

"We haven't come here to cause trouble," one without an accent said.

"Right," Ele scoffed.

"Ve are her to varn you," Dinu added.

"You keep your mouth shut you old goat," Ele demanded.

"What's this all about Mrs. Snape?" Joe wondered out loud.

The third Gypsy asked, "You know you got a witch working for you?"

Joe laughed. "Definitely not serving this lot. They're already drunk."

"You are in peril," Dinu warned. "She es a vitch."

In a prideful slip of the tongue Ele admitted, "I prefer the term enchantress."

"Oi." Joe liked Ele, but he couldn't stop thinking, 'Nothin' enchanting about her.' Out loud he said, "I don't care what you call yourself as long as you do the job."

"You vill be sorry."

"You lot are gonna be the sorry ones if you don't get out of here." Joe grabbed a cricket bat he kept behind the bar and brandished it at the three men.

"We didn't come here for trouble. We saw her and the old man thought you should know what you're dealing with."

"You're all right nut cases, aren't you?"

"You vill see," Dinu shot before they left.

"Crazy Gypsies," Joe said as he put the bat back.

"Yeah - - " Ele agreed. She was glad Joe didn't even believe her own slip up admission. As long as her boss didn't believe in witches, she had a job. "Listen Joe, I know it's early, and I got here late, but there was a lot of trouble today - - "

"Say no more." In a few days Joe had seen what a hard worker Eileen was, and he was in general a nice guy. "I know with Toby, and the little one, it must be hard." He pealed off the money he owed her and gave her share of the tips. "Go home, and I'll see you tomorrow."

-

Back at the Snape house, things had been quiet. There was nothing for Tobias to do but sleep off whatever bender he had been on the night before. There was nothing left to drink or smoke. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen to him the next day if Eileen didn't come through for him this time. Fear that she wouldn't crossed his mind. How he had been behaving lately didn't warrant anything but contempt from her. The man himself didn't understand why he acted the way he acted. All he knew was he liked the way he felt when he was drunk or high. He didn't want to remember the real world. He didn't want to be reminded that his grand scheme had not gone the way he had wanted. He did not end up with the Prince fortress as his home; he got this little dump, the brat and her. At first she had been fun, but when the money ran out Eileen became a real killjoy. All he wanted was for her to wallow in it with him, at least that would be fun. She wouldn't do that. She actually wanted him to go out and work. He had married her so he wouldn't have to work ever again.

Toby didn't want to think about anything so he slept. His sleep was not peaceful. Even in his dreams Eileen screeched at him. He kept dreaming of a man in a hooded robe turning him into a toad. Maybe one day Eileen would go to her family and tell them they could do what she had protected him from all these years.

"Toby, wake up." It was Eileen. Was it that late? She sat next to him. "Toby wake up."

Eileen's husband's eyes opened. He wasn't drunk, but he wasn't awake either. "What?"

"I thought you might like to know you don't have to worry about tomorrow." Her statement brought a questioning look to his face. "I took care of your problem."

"That's my girl." He reached across to give her a kiss. Eileen pulled away. She wanted to be mad at him; at the same time she missed his affections. "I want you to promise you will not get into this kind of situation again."

It wasn't as if she could really trust him to keep his word, but she was happy to hear his lie of the moment. "I won't. I'm through with Stone." He reached for her again. She still pulled back. "What?"

"I want you to promise that you will try to make an effort to stay sober, and get some kind of work."

"All right, all right. Happy now?"

It wasn't the most romantic moment, but she felt as if she could now give in. She reached for him. And for the first time in a while Eileen and Tobias remembered they were husband and wife. Both of their insecurities fed off of each other. In some weird dysfunctional way, they were made for each other.

-

In the morning Severus woke to the smell of breakfast. An actual cooked breakfast within days of the last. What was the special occasion? As he ran downstairs he could hear his mother humming as she cooked. She must have been - - happy. That hadn't happened in a long time. The little boy ran into the kitchen hoping for the best. He froze when he saw his father sitting at the table. What kind of a day was it going to be? It depended on which Toby showed up. After all Sev knew there were two Tobys. Good Toby, and bad Toby. Even when good Toby showed up the boy had learned bad Toby could show up anytime and ruin everything.

"Well boy," Toby called. "You going to stand in the doorway all morning or come and get some of your mum's cooking."

It was good Toby. So Severus timidly made his way to the table. He didn't take his eyes off of his father, in case it was a trick. He sat at the opposite side of the table so as to be out of whacking range. Sev looked at his mother smiling as she fried eggs. "Maybe we could all go to the park today," she proclaimed.

"The park? Really?" Severus tried to contain his excitement. After all there were many times when such a trip was promised, but never materialized.

"Really." It was Tobias who answered. "Your Mum and I decided we needed a day out. As a family."

Two looks kept dancing across the confused boy's face; one of worry and one of hope. This was a new trick. Sev wanted to ask if he could ride on the merry-go-round at the park, but that might be pushing his luck. "That will be - - nice." He reached across to the plate of sausages to grab one before he could be told he was dreaming.

"Go on," Toby was talking to Sev again. "Eat up, you're a growing boy."

Had his father just called him a boy instead of a freak? Was Tobias actually now even pouring him a glass of orange juice from the pitcher that was in the middle of the table? This was so good it was scary. He remembered what Eileen had said last night. 'I'm going to make Daddy promise - - ' She had said promise not to be bad anymore, or something like that. Had he promised? Would he keep his promise? When would bad Toby show up? Severus was sure it would be any second now. All day the boy thought that same thought. Bad Toby the toad would show up any second. Maybe Severus was in for a surprise today.

tbc


	28. Wanta' Go For a Ride

Wonderful ch. 27

Wanta' Go For a Ride

The Snape family walked with Toby and Sev on either side of Ele, both of her 'boys' holding her hands. They looked like any other family in the park that day; like respectable people from a respectable part of the city. Unlike the playground Severus could walk to on his own, this park was quite a ways form Spinner's End and the polluted river. Seeing a crowd of muggle children surrounding a small vending wagon, Eileen held out a twenty-five pence coin out and told Severus, "Here, go get yourself a box of popcorn." Her son scurried off to join the other children in line. The boy stuffed a few handfuls of the salty treat into his mouth on the way back to where he had left his parents. They were now sitting on a bench, arms around each other's shoulders. 'Okay,' the boy thought. 'They've made up. For how long?'

Severus hopped up next to his parents to contently eat his popcorn. As he did this, he saw other people sharing theirs to pigeons and squirrels. Seeming like fun Sev threw a handful on the grass in front of him. Birds and small rodents pounced on it then looked up at the boy expectantly. Sev threw another handful.

"Don't go wasting that on bloody pigeons," Toby had spoiled the moment. Severus stopped feeding the critters, and closed up the box. Tobias couldn't see the glairing look his son was giving him. It was probably a good thing he didn't.

As the littlest Snape sat pouting, looking the other direction because his parents were being all icky, kissing and junk, he saw another family. Each of them were feeding the birds, even the adults. There was a blond girl who seemed a few years older than he was, and a red haired girl who must have been like Sev on the verge of seven. Muggle families didn't hold any interest for Severus normally, but he saw something no on else seemed to notice. Not even the girl's mother and father. The red haired girl throwing the popcorn down for the birds, she was making it float out to the exact one she wanted to get it. Only someone watching very intently would have noticed. The boy wondered, 'Is she magic?'

He watched them until the family got up to go to another part of the park. Severus unconsciously stood to follow them.

"Where'd you think you're going?" Toby asked.

Severus sat back down. "Nowhere," he sighed out. Having to sit back on the bench didn't stop Sev from watching the red haired girl's family as they went in the direction of the merry-go-round.

"Severus - - " Eileen noticed something. "You're not eating your popcorn?"

"I've had enough." The boy held out the almost full box in the hope that his mother would hold it.

His father had other ideas. "You keep hold of that yourself. Your Mum's not your servant."

Severus took the box back to himself not believing what Toby had just said. Was this the same man he'd seen ordering his mother around; was she not the same woman who often waited on Toby hand and foot?

Eileen made up for Toby's grumpiness by suggesting they go to the merry-go-round, which stood in the center of the park large park. "After all, we came here to let Severus have some fun, didn't we?" This had been said with a light tone in Ele's voice, but the look in hr eyes told Toby, that she had just saved his hide do he'd better behave in a fatherly fashion at least for one day.

"Right," Tobias said on standing to go there. The man actually held out his hand for his son to grab onto, but Severus jumped back away automatically thinking the hand was going to smack him somewhere. On seeing that reaction the offered hand was removed. It was an awkward moment for both father and son. Without comment the Snape family walked on to the children's amusement ride. To Severus' delight the two girls he'd seen earlier were waiting in line for the next turn. He nearly jumped out of his skin waiting for his mother to dig out the twenty-five pence for him to pay. No sooner did the coin touch his fingers than Sev was running to the end of the line. He was only three kids behind the red haired girl and her sister. He'd find out if these two were wizarding children.

'It would be great if there were others,' Severus thought to himself. 'Some that I didn't have to hide what I am from.'

Sev could hear the two girls arguing as they waited. "Let's go on the coach that has the swans pulling it," the blond one said in a bossy tone.

The red head had a different idea. "No, I want to go on one that goes up and down."

Severus definitely thought the red head made more sense. Going up and down was better than just sitting there going around. He wondered what the two girls would think of the wizarding version of this ride that his mother had described to him. On that one the painted statues of animals came to life and flew about the whole park, not just in a tiny little circle. If these girls were magic kids, maybe his mum would take them to see it sometime. In the little boy's head all sorts of great schemes were already hatching. He knew if they were muggles all bets were off, he could still dream.

When the ride stopped the children on it got off and the attendant let the ones waiting in line on. Severus wondered if he could position himself so he would be riding next to the red head if the blond sister was too much of a chicken to go on a moving animal. Disappointment came when the attendant stopped the line just after the two sisters. 'Oh crud,' Sev thought. He'd have to be content to watch the girls as he waited for his turn. At least being near the front of the line, he'd get to pick what he wanted to ride. He had already spied a unicorn.

A smile came to the boy's face when he saw the red head defy her sister and climb up on that very unicorn. 'I like her.' The blond girl seemed content to share the non-mechanical seat with a couple of snot nosed four year olds. 'That one's not brave at all.' Each time the ride came around Sev looked for the red haired girl. She was brave; she let go of the pole and held her arms out like wings. The ride stopped again and the group of children Severus was with flooded onto the ride. Sev made a strait line for the unicorn, unfortunately another boy had the same idea. They both put a foot on the stirrup on either side, but the other boy was slightly faster.

"Hey," Sev protested. "I was getting on this one."

"I got up first," the other boy said.

"Don't care anyway. I got to play with a real one yesterday." After saying this Severus climbed up onto a merleopard one spot behind the unicorn.

"My mum told me not to lie to strangers."

"I'm not lying." Severus knew he shouldn't have said what he had either. Seeing magical creatures there had made him forget that muggles didn't believe in them. Still he didn't like being called a liar.

"Are too, there's no such thing as real unicorns."

"That's what you think." The young wizard couldn't stop saying things he shouldn't. He knew he had just played with a real unicorn. No muggle was going to tell him otherwise.

"That's what I know." The other boy had turned around to make sure Sev did not have the last word.

At this point the ride started and the wizard boy was more interested in the sensation of going around in a circle while going up and down on a half leopard half fish statue while tinny music played in the middle. At first he clung to the safety pole for dear life. Then he remembered that the red haired girl had let go. If a girl could do it, so could he. Severus didn't have the greatest sense of balance, but he managed to stay on the moving statue while holding out his arms. It was almost like, flying.

All too soon the ride came to an end. Severus climbed down from the imaginary creature and said out loud to it, "Thanks for the ride."

There was a laugh from the bigger boy who was standing next to the unicorn he had been riding. "What a schmuck. Think that thing can hear you?"

A flash of anger grew in Severus' eyes. It only took a split second for the accidental magic to happen and be over. The 'pretend' unicorn turned it neck around so that it could bite the skeptical boy's fanny, ripping a hole in his jeans. Now Severus was laughing. The muggle boy looked at the statue, that looked as normal as it had before. He then turned to Severus. "What did you just do?"

"Me? I'm way over here, what could **I** do." Sev marched off of the ride with a stride of victory.

He smiled even wider when the muggle's mother scolded, "Tommy, what did you do to your jeans?"

"The - - the unicorn bit me."

"Don't lie Tommy."

"I'm not lying Mum."

'Stupid muggle'

Severus looked around trying to find the red haired girl, but she and her family were nowhere to be seen.

tbc


	29. Do Wishes Come True?

_I loved Laura Granger's idea that the boy on the merry-go-round should be Vernon. I may go back and change it later._

Wonderful chapter 28

Do Wishes Come True?

On returning to the place where Tobias and Eileen had sat on the grass, Severus was reminded by his father that the popcorn box was his to hold on to. After a while of sitting there watching his parents smooching and cuddling in turn with watching other kids ride the merry-go-round Sev grew bored. He knew better than to actually ask to do something. That was the surest way to not get what was wanted. Squirming was something he couldn't stop himself doing. Ele couldn't help notice. She suggested, "Why don't we go over by the fountain?"

"Wha'for?" Toby could not see the point.

Eileen being clever enough not to say, 'because Sev is bored,' instead said, "I think it's pretty there."

"All right," a grumpy Toby agreed.

Ele and Sev shared smiles behind Tobias' back.

At the fountain, which looked as big as their whole house to Severus, the Snapes found a small space on its edge to sit. Eileen and Tobias went back to 'making up.' At least here Severus could watch the ducks and coy fish swimming in the fountain's pool. He followed a line of orange fish as they passed on their way to some kids who were feeding them. The ducks were gathering at the same spot. Sev looked up to see if Toby was watching. The boy took out one kernel of popcorn and covertly let it drop into the water.

Zoom about ten fish went for the one scrap of food. 'This could be fun.' Sneaking one piece at a time amused the little wizard for two reasons; He was pulling one over on Toby, and the fish were knocking each other out of the way to get to what they wanted. 'Smart fish.' It did not interest the ducks. Severus thought it might be time to try a handful. Looking up to make sure Toby wasn't watching he reached into the small box. Just then Sev's father turned around.

"What'cha going to do with that?" Toby questioned.

The handful of popcorn went to Severus' mouth in hopes of fooling Toby.

It looked as if the father was not fooled, but before he could reprimand the boy, the mother groaned, "Leave him alone Toby." There was a moment of silent flexing of the two parents' wills. "He wants to play like all the other kids."

"But he ain't like all the other kids, is he?"

Eileen shot Tobias a look that told him to, 'knock it off.'

"Go'on then, feed you're stupid ducks." Toby's words were like a starter's pistol going off. Severus instantaneously leaned in closer to the water and spread a handful of what the ducks wanted. Now that there was enough to bother with, a good number swarmed over to Snape's part of the fountain. This turned into a sort of 'duck war' between Sev and a group of kids a few feet away. He would throw his and the ducks would cluster near him. They would throw theirs and the ducks would cluster near them. Back and forth the ducks swam until Severus found his fingers scraping the bottom of his empty box. The other kids won only because of their rather larger supply of popcorn.

Severus was disappointed but not angry, it wasn't as if those kids were purposely trying to keep the ducks away from him. They were just having fun. The watching of the other kids feeding the ducks was soon obscured by another set of children running up to the fountain between Severus and the duck feeders. "Hurry up Gran," a boy called out in excitement.

The children's Grandmother stopped to take a few breaths as she leaned on her cane. "Hang on, the wishes won't disappear if I take an extra minute to get there. When she could breathe she continued to the fountain's side. "All right now - - " The old woman took a coin purse out of a sweater pocket and searched for three pennies. As she did she told the children, "Now you best be thinking of what you want to wish for." She began handing each of her grandchildren a penny. "Now stand up along the edge of the fountain.

During this exchange Severus had been watching them intently. Something in his continence must have told the woman if anyone needed a wish, it was this little boy.

"You there." The boy was sure he was going to be told staring was rude. "You come over here as well."

Severus cocked his head before pointing to himself and silently mouthing the word, 'me?'

"Yes boy you." She beckoned him over with a waving hand. She dug in for another penny then held it out for Sev. "You can have a wish as well."

Severus took the penny and lined up with the other children. "Now think of your wishes." The Grandmother instructed again. "Don't tell or it won't come true. I'll count. On three toss your penny in as far as you can."

As this played out at the edges of his attention, Toby began to think this might not be a good idea. It was too late. Severus' penny was flying into the fountain with the three other children's. Tobias Snape was thinking to himself, 'what a fool woman.' Didn't she know that his son was a freaky wizard boy and his wish was likely to actually come true right then and there? He braced, thinking, 'I'm going to end up a donkey-man again.' When the pennies hit the water, nothing happened. Toby was spared because there was something Severus wanted more than to turn his father into something unnatural.

The little wizards heart flew with that penny all the way to the water, then it sank with it when after a minute, his wish had not come true. He looked around for the family of the red haired girl; Again nowhere to be seen. Being young, he expected instant results. Sev came to the conclusion, 'Muggle magic doesn't work.' If he had kept his eye on the penny longer, he might have seen what only the fish saw. The fourth penny began to glow with a slight greenish light, only for a moment, but with magic, a moment was all it took. The thing that Severus didn't know at that time was that some magic took a while to work. He had wished to see the little red headed girl again. He hadn't specified that he wanted to see her right that moment. He didn't know it might be a while before his wish came true, but the forces of magic were working on that wish even as he turned away from the fountain to ask his parents something pragmatic, "Are we going to have lunch today?"

It was reaching one in the afternoon and they were getting just as hungry as the child. Toby did not say the expected caustic words. He mumbled, "S'up to your Mum." He held back not adding what he was thinking, 'She's the one with the money isn't she?'

Eileen wanted to watch the money, but she thought of what her son had said the night before. 'Why didn't you sell it when we needed food?' She became determined that they would have one good meal out before the money ran out again. Somehow she had no doubt in her mind that they would be in that situation again.

"Since I will be at work during tea," Ele began. "Why don't we splurge on dinner now."

Severus knew his birthday was still a few months away, but this day was turning out to already be better than that occasion had been the year before. Ele suggested a nice if not fancy restaurant. Toby didn't protest. Toby never fussed about having good stuff if he was included. It might even be like old times. That day all of the Snapes had the best meal they had had in a long while, and most likely would have for a long while after. When they reached home and Ele had to go to work they were all still happy. Even when Eileen reminded Tobias that he had promised to look for a job the nest day there was no arguing. There was no arguing because there had been no drinking.

Despite all of the little boy's fears, bad Toby did not show up that day. It was the first time in over a year Severus could say he was going to bed happy.

tbc


	30. Try

_Sorry this is so late, and not too long_

Wonderful chapter 29

Try

The next day, Tobias did as he had promised. He went to look for a job. From some of his drinking buddies he got wind that someone else they knew had a few openings down at one of the docks. He did his best to convince the foreman, Chester Wiggins that he was the man for one of them. "Toby, I don't know," Chester said from behind his desk. "You're a good man - - when your sober." Chester eyed Toby; Toby eyed Chester. "You been sober lately?"

Snape looked away from Wiggins' eye, he lied, "Yes."

Chet wasn't sure he believed him. Toby was sober at the moment, that didn't mean he'd been sober the day before, or he'd be sober the day after. "If I give you a job driving one of the trucks on my crew, you have to be sober."

"You know I need this job. I got a wife and kid to feed now don't I?"

"In all honesty, I'm not so sure if I give you a job, you'll use the money to feed your wife and kid. From what I hear you're more likely to gamble it, drink it, or smoke it away."

Toby's face went flush. Chester had every right to think that. He knew Stone as well. "I promised Eileen I'd stay sober." Before the other man could say anything disparaging Toby added, "And I mean to try. I only do that stuff when there's no work." This was a lie even to himself; Toby did that stuff when there was easy money as well.

The man behind the desk rolled his eyes. He knew that Tobias Snape liked to live the high life, the emphasis being on 'high.' During the years that Wiggins had known Snape, Toby had his ups and downs. Like himself and many in the area he had just worked at one of the cotton mills, it was not a high paying job, but Toby always had luck at the track. One time after the last of the mills shut down, Toby won big. He disappeared for a while. Rumor had it he was living in London. Then he came back married to Eileen. At the time they seemed to have a lot of money. Before the year was out they had a kid. For five years they seemed happy until the money dried up and Toby went on the bender of all benders, not seeming to be sober a day after. Now the man was standing in front of him asking for help.

"I'll give you a chance Snape, for old time sakes, but if you screw up - - " Chester stood and made sure Toby was listening. "I'll toss your arse out of here so fast."

"You won't regret it."

Chester picked up a form, marking on it. "We'll see. Take this to the personnel office; they'll get you set up. Show up at dock thirteen tomorrow."

Toby took the work form. "Thanks Chet." As Tobias went to get the wheels in motion to start work the next day, his old work mate wondered if he had done the right thing. Only time would tell. In the main personnel office Toby gave the paper that Chester had given him to a young woman behind a pay window. The young woman looked at the paper and went to get her boss. A gruff looking man introducing himself as the manager of the shipping company, Mr. Leech came to the window and eyeballed Toby.

"Mr. Snape," Leech addressed. "Mr. Wiggins seems to think you will do well in one of our driving positions."

"Yes Sir," Toby politely rejoined. "I worked with Chester in mill didn't I, and I've driven for him before."

"Please address the dock foreman as Mr. Wiggins in future please."

"Yeah sure."

A number of other forms were passed through the window to Toby. Mr. Leech told him to fill out the forms. There was a small little desk with a chair in the corner of the outer office. Toby's lank form sat at it and he looked at the forms. He didn't understand half the words on them. Tobias Snape may have been a clever man, but he was not book or letter smart. It was then he realized he had nothing to fill the forms out with. Toby went back to the window and cleared his throat to get the woman's attention. When she looked up he asked, "You got a pencil back there?"

"This is an office isn't it?" The woman said as she handed him a pencil. Toby was halfway back to the desk when the woman said. "You ain't going to fill those work forms out with a pencil are you?"

"What'd you think I was going to do with it?"

"Don't get cheeky with me," the woman protested. "You have to use a pen."

"You got one?"

"I guess."

Toby exchanged the pencil for a pen and went back to filling out the forms. 'What the hell is all this?' he wondered. He didn't remember having to fill out all this crap when he worked before. He hadn't had a proper job in almost a decade. Back then someone would say, 'hey any of you blokes want to drive today?' Whoever got there first was handed a set of keys. Things had changed. An hour later with only half of the papers filled out, Toby was passed by Leech and the office girl on their way to lunch break.

Leech questioned Snape, "You still here?"

"Uh, yeah," Toby muttered. He looked a bit pathetic with the papers strewn across the small table. Leech looked at them and said, "I see. Carry on then. Push them through the window when you're done." Leech and the office girl disappeared leaving a dumb feeling Toby behind. The thought that the little boy playing back at home could have done this faster, and more accurately, bothered him. 'Didn't get those smarts from me.' He finished the rest of the paperwork faster than the first. He wanted to be sure to be done before Leech returned. When he shoved the messy papers through the bottom of the window Toby had wanted a drink in the worst way. Steadying his hands he told himself to think of his family and the thought of getting a drink passed. He would try this one time. Still a young man of twenty-nine, he felt old. He also felt like this might be his last chance to get things right, if that was what he really wanted. Maybe what he really wanted was one more chance to find a big score.

Back at Spinners end Severus was pleading with Eileen, "Mum, you haven't taught me any magic all week."

"I haven't had time to teach you any magic this week," Eileen explained to her son.

This was followed by the obvious question, "Do you have time now?"

Not wanting to disappoint her son, but also feeling a bit lazy she thought of making something that would keep Severus entertained for a few hours. For some time the little boy had been pestering her for a pet. She had always refused on the basis that they couldn't feed a pet so it would be mean to keep one. She thought of a way he could temporarily have a pet that wouldn't need to be fed. "Hang on a bit," Ele said as she looked around the house for something to cast the charm on. Her eyes lit on something in the kitchen window, a row of herbs growing in pots along the window. Seeing one that might be on its last leg Eileen uprooted a sticklewort plant. The limp plant was carried back into the living room and placed on the floor in front of Severus.

"What are we going to do with that?"

"Watch." Eileen instinctively went for her wand, then remembered it wasn't there. "I hope this works without a wand." Ele held her hand over the pitiful looking plant and called out, "Animatio!"

Severus watched as the little plant came to life. It lifted its pointed yellow flowered top as if it were now a head. It looked around. Then its five leafy branches began to lift and stretch like arms. Finally it stood up on root legs. Its full height being around a foot and a half, it looked around the room gaining its bearings. When Severus said, "Whoa Mum," the little plant that had come to life fled behind the couch. "Oh shoot, it ran away."

"Well go catch it."

tbc


	31. Rose's Other Name

_Again I'm sorry about the wait. I've been busy and under the weather. Thanks to everyone reading & rewieving!_

Wonderful chapter 30

Rose's Other Name

"If you catch it, maybe it will tell you about its properties."

On all fours, the little wizard crawled after the little plant his mother had brought to life. The light was murky at best behind the musty sofa, but Severus could see the sticklewort. It was cowering by the wall just out of the child's reach.

"Be careful, she's got thorns."

Flattening out to get closer to the magical plant, Severus tried to persuade it to come closer. "It's all right. I won't hurt you."

The little plant made a humming sound as if it were determining if it was safe to approach the, in its eyes, rather large human. Humans tended to take her kind to chop them up then brew in potions and teas. Before the little plant could comply or refuse the little boy's hand swung forward to snag the plant by a leaf. Instinctively it pulled back and one of its hand-like leaves tore off. "Oooh sorry," Sev apologized. "I didn't intend that to happen." The plant seemed to bend over in a sad gesture. Like some kind of plant ballet, its four other leafy hands reached to where the missing one had been. In a fluid motion the plant rose up and backed away at the same time.

"Really, I didn't want to hurt you. Come on out and play with me." Severus' words did not convince the plant, until he said, "You know you won't grow a new leaf if you stay back here out of the sun." The animated flower made the same humming sound as before. It came out from behind the sofa, but through the side opposite Severus. "Oooooh," the boy wheezed out. He tried to crawl forward, no good. Backwards was no better. He couldn't move. "Muuuuuum," the little boy whined. "I'm stuuuuuuck."

A moment later the sofa pulled away from the wall and Severus could feel himself being lifted up by the waistband of his jeans. "How did you manage that?" Eileen had asked, but she didn't expect an answer. She was more concerned with her son's clothing. "These jeans are getting a bit short for you." She plopped Severus down in front of the plant person. "Now you play nice with her."

"How do you know it's a her?"

"Ask her." Eileen was determined that her son should find out on his own, use his curiosity to learn, not just repeat what he was told.

The dark haired boy looked at the yellow flower and asked, "Are you a girl?" The flower made the humming sound again. Severus wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no. "Mum, it's not answering."

"Oh yes it is."

"It's just humming."

"So you need to listen harder." Eileen's suggestion made her son scrunch his face up. He did not say it out loud, but she knew he was repeating it in thought. 'Listen harder.'

"What makes Mum think you're a girl," Severus asked the flower.

He tried to 'listen harder' and he heard within the plant's hum, words. _"My name is Agrimony. I am of the rose family. How many boy's do you know named Rose?" _

"Wow," was Severus' first reaction. "No, I've never known a boy named Rose. But Mum said your name was Sticklewort."

The flower hummed again, _"That is what witches call me, but I have other names as well." _

Expecting Agri, to tell him her other names, Sev didn't say anything he was still listening. Agri was stretching her five arms towards the slight stream of light coming from the clouded windows as if soaking it up. Eventually the boy asked, "So, what are your other names?"

"_Liverwort, and Cockleburr."_

"I think I like the other two better."

"_A rose by any other name is still a rose."_

"Huh?"

"_Oh nothing. Say, I don't suppose you could get me a spot of water?"_

"Water?"

"_Water. You know, two hydrogen, one oxygen. Water."_

Scuffling off to the kitchen, Sev came back with an empty plastic margarine tub with a little bit of water on the bottom. "How's that?"

Agri shook in a bristling motion and crawled over the side of the tiny tub. As if she were settling into a real tub, two of her branch arms grasped the sides as her roots settled in the water. _"Ahhhhh." _In seconds the water disappeared as Agri's roots slurped it up. The rest of her seemed to stiffen full of water. She was no longer wilting. _"That's better."_ She stepped out of the tub and made a twisting motion. _"Don't suppose I could get a spot of dirt as well?"_

This time the boy did not comply. Severus figured his mother wouldn't have taken the flower out of the dirt if it were meant to go back in. "No you don't need dirt now that you are free to walk about."

"_Did you just say I was freeeee?" _The plant seemed to glow at this. It drooped a little when Eileen intervened. "No, you are not quite free." Severus looked to his mother wondering why she had said this. "You are free inside of this house, but you can not go out, and if a muggle comes in here, you must act like an ordinary plant."

"_Ohhhhhhh." _

"And," Eileen added. "You will teach Severus about the other plants in the kitchen."

Agri straitened up like she was proud to represent the other herbs. "Well Master Severus, what do you want to know?"

The wizard boy was not sure if the first question he asked the little flower should be about what potions they went in. He skirted around that question by asking, "What are your properties?"

"_Hummmmmm,"_ Agri started with that hum. _"I am bitter, full of tannin, good for digestion. I also have silicic acid, and vitamin B3 which is good for people who have pale skin." _Looking up at Severus and Eileen, she wondered if this was why the witch was growing her in her kitchen herb garden_. "You won't brew me into a potion, will you?" _

Looking up at his mother Severus asked, "Mum, now that Agri is - - alive. You won't brew her, will you?"

Knowing if she said yes it would distress her son greatly, Eileen agreed that she would not brew Agri. She wondered if she had made a mistake in animating the plant. She knew once attached to the plant being Severus would not let anything happen to it. "No, we will no brew you Agri." The little flower relaxed at this promise. "Sev it will be your job to take care of her."

"I can do that," Severus said proudly. The boy might have given Agri a snuggle if she were not full of thorns and spiky hairs all along her branches. Finally he had a pet, all be it one that was not so cuddly. "I just have to give her water, right?"

"Water, sunshine, and possibly some minerals she'd normally get from soil."

Agri added, _"And no more tearing off leaves!" _

"Naaaa-no," Severus sputtered. "That was an accident."

The witch-mother really wanted to get in a good rest before going off to work that day, so she suggested, "Why don't you bring your new friend into the kitchen and learn about the plants in there?"

Severus nodded and put his hand on the floor, palm up, telling Agri, "Climb up." Being careful not to get himself stuck with thorn or hair the boy carried the flower person into the kitchen. He put her down on a counter by a window where pots of other herbs were growing. Agri commenced telling the little wizard the names of the other plants and what potions they went into. _"This is one of my best friends, Brandy Mint."_ Agri motioned to a plant with puffy purple flowers on top. _"You may know her as Peppermint." _

"Hello Brandy," Sev greeted. He heard something he had never heard before when he was near the kitchen garden. He could hear the other plants making humming sounds. Not quite able to understand what they said, he wondered if he listened even harder would he understand them the way he understood Agri. Listening harder did not work this time. He asked, "Why can't I understand them?"

"_You do not have a wand."_

"I need a wand to understand plant talk?"

"_Yes, you should deem yourself fortunate that you can even hear the plant talk,"_ Agri informed. _"Many wizards are quite deaf to it, even with wands."_

"So I can only understand you - - "

" _- - Because of your mother's charm," _the plant completed the thought. _"But if you were a muggle or a squib, I don't think you would be able to hear me." _

"That's good to know." Severus knew he was reaching the age when there would be no question that he was indeed a wizard. He didn't know how anyone could doubt it with all the evidence of magic he had displayed already. For some reason seven was the first of special ages for wizards and witches. Seven being the oldest age that magic reveled itself; eleven being when they were sent off to be trained; and seventeen being when they came of age. At the time, ten years seemed like an eternity to the boy, they would pass faster than he would ever imagine.

"What can you tell me about Brandy?"

"_Peppermint is often used by muggles and wizards alike to flavor candy, but it's true value is in the oil being used as a liniment to relieve pain."_

As Severus listened to Agri's tutelage he could hear his father coming in the front door. The boy wondered what kind of mood Tobias would be in. It sounded like the man was in a good mood. The boy could hear his father telling his mother, "Ele, I got a job. I start tomorrow. Driving trucks from the port to warehouses."

"Driving?" Ele's voice seemed to be light. "That means you won't be able to drink."

Grumpily Toby gave a short, "Suppose it does." He gagged Eileen's resolve by asking, "Suppose we could just have a little one to celebrate?"

"Toby, you promised."

"I said a little one?"

"You know with you it never stops at one."

Severus waited for the expected yelling and banging, but it did not arrive. Instead he heard his father agreeing, "All right, I promised." Sev wondered if Toby being honest, or just wanting to shut Eileen up. "Ironic."

Surprised that Toby would use the word, Eileen inquired, "What's ironic?"

"In a few hours you'll be going off to your job, where you will be serving drinks to other people, but - - "

"But I don't have to live with them, now do I?"

Inside of his little brain, Severus was thinking, 'very Slytherin Mum, very Slytherin.'

tbc


	32. yet another note

I wanted regular readers to know this story is next on my regular rotation. Have been holding off because I've been writing a Christmas story. If you like young Snape stuff you might enjoy that one. It's called **Jolly Holly** and I'm about to post the third chapter in about a minute.


	33. Broke

_Sorry this is short, and took so long, but it got me __**past the block I was having**__. I've been working up to a scene that was written way back but doesn't fit in just yet. _

Wonderful chapter 31

Broke

Agri suddenly fell over and lay limp on the counter. "Agri, what's wrong?" Severus asked. The plant lifted her flower head and whispered, _'A muggle has entered the house. The witch told me to act like a normal plant if a muggle was around.'_ She went back to looking dead.

Relieved that his little vegetative pet was not in distress, the boy told her, "It's all right. He knows that magic stuff goes on. If you lay down on the counter like that, he's likely to throw you in the trash, or something." Visions of a crumpled up Agri filled Sev's imagination. "It's probably best if you don't let him see you at all."

This made the plant stand up and go to the middle of the potted plants. She stood there for a while before the boy asked, "What are you doing now?"

'_Hiding.'_

Thinking about how Toby could get, Severus told her, "That's a good idea."

Severus could hear his mother telling his father, "You can celebrate by getting you and Sev some sandwiches for lunch. I really need to get a nap in before I go to work."

"Can't you use one of your - - " Toby was about to say potions before remembering he'd dumped all of those out. "Right, Sandwiches. You go get some rest."

In the kitchen Severus couldn't believe his ears. Tobias was actually being - - nice. The father shuffled into the kitchen. He was looking around for some bread when he saw his son standing still near where his wife grew plants for her concoctions. "Where's Mum keep the bread?"

Sev almost laughed; they hardly ever had any bread to have a place to 'keep' it. He however knew where some happened to be. "In that cupboard," he answered as he pointed.

Out of the cupboard Toby pulled out a plastic bag of sliced white bread. He'd of preferred some rolls or buns from the bakery, but Ele was smart and got what they could afford. This is what passes for bread these days?" Severus nodded at Tobias' rhetorical question. Toby proceeded to the fridge to see what they had to make sandwiches with. "You like ham and cheese boy?"

Sev really would have preferred peanut butter and strawberry jam, but he nodded 'yes' from the place he had still not moved from. When Toby picked up a rather large knife, he didn't see Sev flinch before it was placed on the table. From the still open fridge and took out two plates one with a ham, one with cheese. "No mustard or mayonnaise," Toby mumbled. "We'll have to have 'em dry." Now he squeezed the ham and cheese between slices of the squishy bread. "No lettuce, no tomatoes," he grumbled.

The boy was glad, he didn't want to eat any of Agri's relatives on the first day of her existence. Toby plopped one of the sandwiches on a plate then the table with a thud. "Come on boy, get your lunch." While his father turned to put things back in the refrigerator, the boy snuck up to the table and took a bite. Being cut a bit thick, the ham was a bit hard for the boy to chew. The man slumped down in his own chair and began to chomp on his own. "S'pose we can get something better when my first pay comes in.

Severus said nothing. He didn't even react. Toby took no notice. Most of his words were for himself anyway. "We'll go back to that nice place again."

The boy wanted to say, 'Mum must have some money,' but he knew she'd used it to pay for that nice place, and to get Toby out of trouble. "Could - - " On Sev's first word Toby looked up. That was enough to scare his son into quietness. Tobias looked ready to hear the rest, but Severus didn't speak.

"Could what?"

"Could I - - " No he couldn't ask just for himself. "Could we, have something to drink with our lunch?"

"Go see what's in there."

Slowly going over to the fridge, Sev didn't take his eyes off of Toby till he had to look inside. He sounded disappointed when he said, "There's only milk." The boy'd been hoping for some kind of sweet drink.

"Go ahead, get yourself some. I'll pass."

He knew the bottle would be heavy, so Severus was careful to use two hands. When he turned back he saw Tobias sneaking a sip from a small flask. The milk bottle had enough condensation so that when the boy let his grip go only a little, it slipped to the floor. Glass and milk was everywhere.

"Can't you do anything right?" Toby wasn't yelling, but it was just as bad. "Don't move." He had said this so Severus wouldn't step on a piece of glass. The boy was frozen in fear anyway. Grabbing a dishtowel that was on the sink Toby made a path for Sev to escape the glass. "Should make you clean this up. But you'd screw it up somehow."

Eileen came in the kitchen to ask, "What's going on in here?"

"Nothing," Tobias said. "Nothing except the usual when the boy does anything."

Eileen looked at her son who looked like he wanted to disappear. "Accidents will happen." She went to where there were some muggle devices that rarely got used when she had her wand. A dustpan and whisk brush was brought over to where the glass and milk were.

"I'll get that, dear," Toby offered. She thought it sweet. If she knew the real reason he wanted her out of the kitchen, she wouldn't have. Tobias made like he was picking up the glass while Eileen was looking. When she was gone. "Smart lad." Was this a compliment? "You best stay smart and not tell her what you saw."

Severus shook his head. Toby scruffed Sev by the front of his shirt. "Is that a no I'm not going to do what you say, or a no I won't tell?"

"I - I - I won't tell."

Toby let go of his son. "Sit down and finish that food."

The boy didn't feel much like eating now, but he knew he couldn't disobey. Toby continued to pick up the glass and dumped it into the dustbin. When he sat back down, seeing Sev taking little bites out of his sandwich, he shook his head at his son and muttered, "useless." He could see Severus starting to breath in heaves. "Don't you dare start crying." The boy twitched trying to keep the tears in.

The boy was brave enough to gasp out, "Wh- wh – why did you - - break your promise?"

"I didn't break no promise."

'lying too,' Sev thought has he nibbled at his sandwich. All the time the boy did not take his eyes off of his father. The father could not escape the intensity of those eyes. "What," the man bellowed. "What you looking at me like that for?"

"You know why."

"You don't understand Sevvy." What had his father just called him? "You don't understand."

That was one thing the man was right about. The boy didn't understand. What was so alluring in that bottle that kept the man from giving it up? To the boy it seemed to only bring bad things, why did his father love it more than him or his mother? No this is something Severus would never 'understand.'

tbc


	34. Point of View

Wonderful chapter 32

Point of Veiw

It was weeks before Ele felt safe enough to let Sev out to play. She wanted to be sure that the Travelers' caravan and the Snapeivitskys were gone. She was surprised that they hadn't tried some other means to try and capture her or her son. In the back of her mind she couldn't help think that they had not seen the last of them. Maybe Dumbledore had put more of a scare into old Dinu than she had thought. The fact that the muggle knew who that wizard was may be the only reason he wasn't harassing the witch and her child. The lure of magically gained fortunes was often too strong a lure for witch hunters. Eileen had waited an extra week after the Gypsies had moved on to be safe, but her son's constant reminding her what day was coming up made her give in.

"So what do you want to dress as for Halloween?" Ele had been allowing Sev to join in the muggle celebration of that holiday since he was four. She remembered that Toby had been the one to take their son around. The first year the father thought it was cute to see the boy dressed as a pumpkin. The second year he had been a bit reluctant, but still took the mini-Merlin trick or treating.

"Dumb-doors!" Severus shouted out in excitement. "He's even better than Merlin." The boy believed it at the time.

This would be an easy enough costume. It would only take a few changes in the Merlin costume she'd made last year to become Dumbledore. "All right I'll go find the old one so we can fix it up." When she came back with the Merlin costume it became clear that it was way too small for Severus to wear this year. Eileen knew her wand wouldn't be back in time to magically fix it. She would have to do it the muggle way. In the middle of doing just that is when Toby came home from work.

"Why you got the boy in that dress thing?"

"It's not a dress, it's wizard's robes."

Tobias' nose wrinkled up. "What for?"

"Halloween Toby, remember."

"Oh yeah." Toby was less than thrilled. Not interested in the designing of costumes, he went right for the kitchen, but not before giving Sev his daily 'you haven't said anything to your Mum' look. The look the boy gave back told the man that his son was sufficiently scared enough not to have told his wife that despite being able to hold on to his job, he had not kept his promise of not drinking at all. Toby had been smart enough not to get rip roaring drunk, yet. He still had his hidden flask of what he called 'nerve tonic' to 'keep his hands steady.'

Coming back into the living room with a sandwich and a glass of iced tea in his hands Toby plopped down on the sofa. His mouth was full of his first bite when he said, "Why you ripping that all up?"

"It doesn't fit," Ele informed. "Sev is growing. I'll have to get some material to fix it."

Toby grunted out a disapproving sound. A sip of the cold drink pushed down the food. "You know, if you just get an old sheet and throw it over him, he can go as a ghost."

"He doesn't want to go as a ghost," Ele snipped back.

The grunting noise came out of Toby again. He took a few more bites of the sandwich before asking. "Why don't you want to go as a ghost boy?"

Despite the fact that his parents had been getting along better the past few weeks, Sev still got jittery when asked anything by his father. "I - - I - - just don't."

"What is I say we can't afford to get that extra stuff to fix that?"

Eileen knew Tobias was just egging on the child. So she answered, "Then I'd take that stupid sheet you want to make a ghost costume out of and use it to fix this."

Disarmed with this argument Toby moved on to another. "What you want to be Merlin again this year. Your supposed to dress as something different every year?"

"Is different," Severus mumbled out.

"What'd you say? Can't hear you boy."

"Is different," the boy repeated a little louder.

"It's still Merlin."

"T'isn't."

"T'is."

"T'isn't"

"How's it different?"

"It's Dumb-doors, not Merlin."

"Oose Dumb-ders?"

Ele intervened in this ridiculous exchange. "Professor Dumbledore, from the wizarding school. The one who helped me rescue our son from your shiftless relatives."

"ehh - - " was the only sound to come out of Tobias' mouth after that. He finished shoving his lunch into it. After draining the glass of ice tea he stood to bring it and the dish back to the kitchen. After he returned to the living room he unceremoniously announced, "Going back to work."

When his father left the house, Severus felt as if he could breath again. "All right," his mother said. "Let's get that off of you."

When the pin covered robes were off of his regular clothes the boy asked, "Can I go out and play?"

"Not today," Eileen told.

The disappointed boy asked, "When?"

"After Halloween."

Severus grimaced. Halloween was four days away. To a kid that was a long time. The boy figured this would be a good time to read that book Dumbledore had let him bring home. This made him think of his little flower friend. Sev went to find her. Agri was resting in the middle of the other plants in the kitchen. She had hidden there when Tobias had come home and fell asleep.

"Agri," Severus whispered. "Time for your water."

This woke the plant up. _"My water, yea!"_ The little plant jumped up revealing her branch legs which took her to the sink where the boy had made it a routine to water her at. She climbed down into it as the boy took out the sprayer hose to make the little live plant a shower. The little plant person danced in delight in the stream of cool water. One time Severus had made the mistake of not checking the temperature and had almost boiled the poor thing. That was never repeated. He always made sure it was alright for her to get under it first.

Now that his mother had bought some paper napkins, Severus handed Agri one to dry off with. She did another little dance as she did this. At the end she wrapped the makeshift towel around her flower head like a Carmen Maranda headdress. This made the little boy look at her in a sideways manner as she climbed out of the sink.

_"What does Master Severus want to know about plants today?"_ Agri asked when she was on the counter.

"I thought you could help me read my tree book."

_"Tree book. Oh yes, yes, yes, how interesting."_ The little plant lady was hopping about with excitement. Before he could even ask her to climb up she was scrambling up to the boy's shoulder. _"What's a book?"_

"What's a book?" The boy wondered at the question. "Oh, you haven't seen a book yet. I'll have to show you." Severus ran up the stairs with Agri He pulled out the book from under his mattress and lay down on the floor. He opened up to a page in the middle. Agri looked down to see a picture of an oak tree.

_"Ooooh,"_ the little plant squealed. _"Oak, the king of trees."_ Before Severus could read any of the words next to the picture, Agri was standing on the page. After feeling what was under her feet for a few seconds she asked, _"What's this made of?"_

Not thinking Severus answered, "Paper."

_"Paper - - "_ Agri mulled this word over in her mind._ "What's paper?"_

The little boy knew all about how they made paper. He'd read about it. "It's mashed up wood and - - "

_"Mashed up wood!"_ Agri was livid. _"This tells you about trees and it's made of mashed up wood."_

Severus lied and told the plant, "Only after the tree is dead." Well it wasn't a complete lie. He just left out the part where the tree was cut down first. At this point something caught Agri's attention. There was a little piece of something that looked like what Mrs. Snape sometimes used to wrap things up in, cellophane.

_"Then you put food inside of it?"_

"Food?" The plant person was now oh the side of the book pulling on the plastic wrap sticking out between some pages. "I never noticed that before." Severus opened up to that page to find, encased in cellophane, a dried up purple iris flower that looked like it had been there over a century.

_"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_ Agri cried out in horror. _"Who would do such a thing!"_

"It's just a dried flower."

_"How would you like it if a bunch of flowers got together and stuck a relative of yours in cellophane and flattened them in something made from mashed up parts of their arms and legs."_

"That would be pretty gross, but I don't think the plants could ever do something like that."

_"Oh,"_ Agri huffed as she put all of her branch hands on her hips indignantly. _"So, just because humans can do it, it's okay."_ She turned her back on the boy.

"I didn't say it was okay." The boy still thought the plant was going a bit overboard.

_"I don't think I want to read that book with you,"_ She pronounced. _"No, I'm going back to my friends in the kitchen. Unless your going to smash me inside of there."_

"I wouldn't do that." The little plant had exited the room as the boy said these words. He figured she'd have to cool off before he could apologize for whoever put the iris in the book. "Mum's definitely going to have to keep her out of the kitchen the next time she makes potions." After wondering if it was Professor Dumb-doors who had put the flower in the book. He settled down, flipped back to the page with the oak tree on it and spent the afternoon reading about it and other trees.

tbs


	35. What Are The Odds

Wonderful ch. 33

What Are The Odds?

"Come on boy," Tobias both snarled and encouraged at the same time. "Which one should I get rid of?"

Severus stood next to the table shaking in silence.

"It's just a little game," his father told him.

"Why don't ya leave yer kid outta dis?" Marvin, one of the other men at the table asked.

"Because, I want him to learn something useful." Toby showed Sev the cards again. "Which ones do I get rid of?"

The small boy pointed to two cards that his father then discarded.

"You've invented a new way of cheating Snape," a second man, called West, put in.

"Cheat? It's not like the boy can see your cards, now is it?"

At this West raised his glass and took a sip. "Now that would be something." He eyed the boy with suspicion but didn't believe there was any cheating going on. He and the other players were keeping their cards hidden and down so no one could see them even with mirrors or signals. "But if he's some kind of weird genius, you could have taught him to count cards."

"That don't work for poker. Give me my two cards." Toby smiled when he saw them. He didn't even bother to have a 'poker' face.

Marvin on the other hand thought there had to be a way Toby was using the boy to cheat. Snape was never this lucky. "I fold."

It didn't seem to matter who dealt, and the boy was never behind anyone other than his father. Of course they didn't know that Severus could see the cards in their minds, not in their hands. Toby laughed gleefully as he swept a particularly large kitty towards himself. "I win again."

"I've had enough," Marvin said. "Next time yer good luck charm can stay out of the room."

"Marvin, you don't honestly think I was cheating, do you?"

"I don't know how, but yeah, I do." With that the man swung his jacket on and walked out the door.

West and the three other remaining players were looking at their fundage. A gristly looking man named Blake looked at the few pound notes in his hands. He rummaged in his pockets. "Don't suppose you fellows would allow for non cash currency?"

"Depends on what it is," Toby was the one to speak because he had been the one winning.

Blake pulled out what he had been fiddling with in his jacket pocket. A bag of dry leaves was hefted onto the middle of the table.

This peaked Severus' interest. "Are you a Potions - - " Before he could finish the question, Toby had his hand over his son's mouth. "Be a good lad and go get that other pitcher of ice tea that's in the fridge." The look the elder Snape was giving the younger one, that the poker players could not see, told Sev that he'd best do as told.

The boy gone, Blake continued, "I've got nine more like that over there." He waved a thumb to a rucksack he had left against the wall behind him. Figure that's worth a few hundred."

The host of this poker game snorted. "Maybe one, not a few," Tobias said as he looked to the other players to see what they thought.

"Your the one who knows the value of such things," West said in a knowing tone. "If you say ten of these are worth a hundred I'll accept that."

The two other players nodded and grunted their approval that they would accept the drugs as cash. One didn't. "Maybe Toby can smoke that much weed," Jason said. "But what am I supposed to do with that?"

"You could sell it," Blake offered. "If Toby keeps winning, he'll have enough to buy it off of you. Just don't let Stone catch you in his territory."

"Maybe I'll win that as well," Tobias challenged.

"Just deal."

"Not till my boy is back." Now Toby was calling Sev 'my' boy not 'the' boy. There were groans from the other players, but gamblers were always a superstitious lot anyway, so they understood that Snapes' son was his good luck for that day. If they only knew that luck had nothing to do with it. Even if Tobias admitted to cheating, the other muggles would never believe how he was doing it. West had come close to the answer with his 'weird genius' comment. Even for wizard standards Severus as a child had exceptional skills in certain areas. In other areas, such as carrying large objects filled with liquid, it was disastrous.

Seeing the boy clutching the pitcher of ice tea for dear life against his chest with both of his arms surrounding it, one of the other men, Roth piped up, "Why don't ya help the boy Toby?"

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"Bet you a fiver," West broke in. "The kid drops it before he get here."

Seeing the look on his son's face, it was a determined one, Toby knew that Severus was trying with all of his might to not repeat what had happened with the milk not too long ago. "You're on," Snape senior took the bet. Snape junior gulped and gripped the pitcher tighter. He knew what would happen if he embarrassed his father, or caused him to lose the bet. There were a few moments where he wobbled, but the boy reached the table his burden in tact and hefted it on to it. "See, Sev had everything under control." Toby then made it look so easy to lift and poured half glasses for all of the other players and himself.

"Only cause you had the kid scared shitless," Roth observed.

Toby shrugged, "Only way to get him to do anything." He then pulled out a bottle of clear colored liquid to add to each glass of iced tea. "Bottoms up lads." Toby downed his in one swig.

Before taking a sip of his, West asked, "Thought you were on the wagon, Snape?"

"Well, there's on the wagon, and then there's ON the wagon. No work tomorrow, so I figure - - "

Before Tobias could continue with his rationalization of conditional sobriety Blake broke in, "Can we just get on with this game?"

The trademark sneer of his family grew on Toby's face before he shuffled and dealt. "That's what we're here for." He looked at his cards then looked for Severus. Tobias' son had backed away from the table, these men made him nervous to begin with. Now that his father was breaking his promise to Eileen again, it was another secret he'd have to keep from his mother; if he wanted all of his bones to stay in tact.

"SEVERUS, OVER HERE!" The order was barked out, and the boy timidly obeyed. "Take a look at Daddy's cards and tell him which ones to get rid of."

The boy was pointing when Blake wondered, "What kind of weird name you give your kid Toby?"

"I didn't give it, his Mum did." Toby discarded the three cards his son had indicated.

"Severus," the man called West mused. "Latin for Severe, I believe." Said boy thought that there was something odd about this one, he wasn't as crass or crude as the other of his father's gambling chums, but he was no wizard.

Roth was curious. "Why'd you want to saddle the kid with a name like that?"

"Told you, Ele give it to him," Tobias reiterated.

"In some cultures, names are given to scare off evil spirits."

Toby gave West a startled look for a second. Evil spirits were right up Eileen's alley weren't they?

West continued, "Some African tribes will name a child something reprehensible so that evil spirits won't know the child is beloved and steal it in the night."

Sev gulped nervously again. He didn't think he was named for that reason. He had a feeling Toby wouldn't have minded if evil spirits took off with him in the night. But his father had not named him, his mother had. He'd have to ask her about that sometime.

"Thank you for the anthropology lesson professor," Toby teased. "Could you make your bet?"

"I bid fifty," West put in. "Didn't think you knew big words like anthropology Snape."

"I ain't a complete idiot you know." Toby tossed fifty in.

'You aren't?' Severus was thinking. 'Could have fooled me.'

Roth and Jason folded right off. Blake hefted five of his bags of pot on to the table, then added another. "I raise you ten."

"Whoa big gambler," Toby chortled. He added ten more. "I see your ten."

West was considering. Seeing how Toby's luck was running, he said, "I fold."

"So Blake," Toby prodded. "Show."

"Three Jacks," Blake reveled. "What you got Toby?"

Toby didn't lay his cards down; he told, "Three tens."

Blake smiled and went to reach for the pot and the pot.

"Not so fast," Snape said. "Three tens, and two fives, full house. I win again." Toby drew the kitty towards him.

"I've had enough," Blake proclaimed. "I'm better off selling the rest instead of losing it to you."

The others had had enough as well. "You're just too lucky tonight Toby," Roth said.

"I'm done as well," Jason announced. "My wife is going to kill me." He only had a few pounds left in his pocket.

West came to the same conclusion. "Yes, I'm tapped out as well."

Toby doubted that West was ever really tapped out. "Not even one more hand?"

All of the other card players were shaking their heads.

"Aught to give your kid a tener for being such good luck to you," Roth added as he drained his drink.

"Aught to butt out," Toby snarled.

"Snape," West said as he stood. "I always thought you were a sore loser, but now I see you are just as rotten a winner."

On his 'friend' like a bull dog Toby slammed West into the wall. Blake and Roth were pulling Snape off of West. "Toby stop!" They shouted. Toby wasn't about to listen. He threw them off and headed right back to West. "Think you're so posh do you?" Snape was ready to belt West, but West proved the better boxer and landed two right to Toby's nose. Tobias staggered back stunned, but he kept his fists up.

"I don't want to fight you Toby, but you come at me again," West made clear. "I'll lay you out."

Severus was hiding behind the couch almost wishing his father would dare to do it. He'd like to see someone lay Toby out for a change. Toby was not so stupid. He knew West was more than a match for him, and the other's wouldn't let him fight dirty so he ordered them all, "out of my house."

Roth being the last one out the door called back, "Don't bother coming round next week." Snape was being told he was out of this poker circle. There was the sound of a pitcher hitting the front door as Roth closed it. "I've got all your money anyhow," Toby yelled out for no one to hear. Severus peeked out from behind the sofa to see his father counting that money. The boy was gauging the man's mood. It could change that fast. Toby looked pleased with his winnings so Sev walked over to the table. "This is funny looking tea." The boy poked at one of the bags of marijuana.

Severus found his finger being grabbed and twisted around. "Don't you touch that. S'not tea. And don't you dare tell your Mum I won it either." Sev nodded knowing he wouldn't get his finger back if he didn't agree. "Time for you to get ta bed anyway." A jerk of his father's head towards the stairs told the boy to go to his room. He was on the stairs when Toby called back, "Wait a minute."

Stopping on the stairs Severus waited to hear what Tobias wanted now. "Where's someplace you'd hide something you didn't want Mum to find?"

"I d'know."

"You d'know?"

Toby was giving one of the looks that the boy knew wasn't good. He had to think quick. "Mum, would never look - - "Sev had to think, at this age there wasn't that much he had to hide. "I don't think she'd look - - I have a shoebox in my closet where I keep dead bugs."

The thought of putting something he was going to smoke in with dead bugs didn't sound appealing, but the idea of hiding it somewhere in Sev's room appealed to Toby. "Come on, show me."

Up in the room the boy showed his father the shoebox, but that wasn't where the man was going to hide it. What Tobias thought was a brilliant idea crossed his mind. He pulled one of the pillowcases off of the boy's bed. "Don't need two of those." He also had a bright idea that he could sneak it out of the house a few days later when he had to take the boy out trick or treating. He had plans to sell four of them. Those he shoved in the pillowcase and shoved that into the closet. He would make arrangements with someone the next day. "I see that moved even a speck, and you'll get the hiding of a lifetime boy."

Severus found himself nodding again. He didn't understand what all the fuss was about a little tea or what ever it was. He had no intention of even looking at it let alone move it. Still all that night as he lay in bed, he couldn't help thinking of the secret in the pillowcase. He couldn't help wondering what that odd smelling smoke that was permeating the house was. He didn't have to wonder at what Ele thought of it when she got home that night. "TOBIAS SNAPE! YOU PROMISED!"

"I promised I wouldn't drink. I'm not drinking," Toby lied. "I'm smoking."

Eileen was in no mood to argue. Her son could hear her stomping up the stairs and slamming his parents' bedroom door shut. When Toby couldn't get in an hour later, Sev was sure she had locked it. There was a string of thumps on that door. "Open up Ele."

"Go to Hell Toby."

"I'll settle for downstairs, just the same."

Severus didn't wonder if his father was right about one thing. Spinner's End was beginning to seem a lot like Hell again.

tbc


	36. More Trick Than Treat

Wonderful Chapter 34

More Trick Than Treat

Halloween came and Eileen thought of staying home that evening, but Tobias had been acting very good the last few days. It seemed as if he were looking forward to taking Severus out trick or treating. He had not made anymore fuss over her fixing their son's wizard costume. The witch had told her son not to protest if the muggles said he was just a plain ordinary wizard or Merlin; Muggles didn't know who Dumbledore was.

"Those people who took me knew who he was," the boy reminded.

"Well those are different kinds of muggles," Ele explained. "Most muggles don't know the difference. They're not supposed to know."

"I know, statute of secrecy." Sev knew what he must say around muggles. "There's no such thing as magic. witches and wizards are make believe," he droned out. "But Mum, on Halloween even muggles believe in all sorts of magical things."

"No Severus, they pretend to believe in all sorts of magical things. If they saw real magic even tonight, they wouldn't believe their own eyes."

"Muggles are awfully stupid aren't they Mum?"

Having married one she couldn't say that they were stupid. She had been the stupid one in falling for Toby's charms. "They aren't stupid Sev, they just can't understand magic."

"Well that's stupid."

Eileen had just finished the last touches of the costume, so she didn't argue with her son. "Now off with you Professor Dumbledore."

Severus flourished his fake wand and imagined the sorts of spells he would cast when he was a trained wizard.

"Now you behave yourself with Dad tonight."

"Will he?"

The mother ignored her son's question. She hoped both of them would behave. All that day Severus could 'pretend' to be a 'real' wizard, so he was as happy as he could be. Eileen didn't know why Toby was very happy that day as well. He had left for work in a very good mood. Because her son and husband were happy, Eileen was happy. She was beginning to believe in the possibility that the Snapes could be a happy family again. She didn't even know that Toby had already broken his word, and it was well past that dream.

When Ele left for work that night it still seemed all possible to her, Toby came home smiling, thought she did not know the real reason why. He waited till she was gone to get what was making him so happy. "BOY!" Toby's voice made Severus stop short and skid a few feet on his sox as he was still running around the house playing grown up wizard. "LET'S GO!"

Peeking from behind the banister atop the stairs Sev asked, "Let's go what?"

"Let's go what he asks," Toby said to himself as he climbed the stairs, then asking in return, "Where'd you think you daft boy? What have you been whining about all week."

The little boy chewed on the side of his lower lip before answering, "Halloween."

"So now that it's here you ask where we're going?"

"Wasn't sure you were really going to take me."

"Not take you, I've been waiting for today too."

"You were?" Severus was amazed. His eyes went wide. Had his father really been waiting to spend time with him? He didn't know that it wasn't spending time that Toby had been looking forward to. It was what had been 'stashed' in his son's closet that he was interested in. It wouldn't bring that much money, but Tobias felt like he could be making important connections for a bigger plan he had in mind. He had already told certain people he'd be dropping by that night.

"So, let's go get ready," Toby said when he reached the top of the stairs.

"I am ready," Severus declared.

"We both need one more thing.""We do."

"Something to put all that candy in."

"Oh yeah." Kids in other neighborhoods may have gotten plastic pre-formed jack-o-lanterns to but their candy in, but down at Spinner's End kids used pillowcases. Severus ran to his room to get his. He was followed by Tobias who went to get his, it was in his son's closet. "Why are you bringing that Dad?"

"I'm going to be giving some people we visit a treat."

A furrow grew on the boy's face. "You're supposed to get treats when you go to the houses. I don't think chopped up leaves would be much of a treat. You're supposed to give candy."

"This is grown up candy." The skeptical look was not leaving the boy's face. If that was what grown ups considered a treat, he wasn't sure he wanted to grow up. He had a feeling his father was up to something, but what that was he didn't understand. As they were going out the door, Toby said, "Now listen, this, grown up candy is supposed to be a secret, a surprise, so don't go blabbing to everyone about it. Only special people are supposed to get it."

The boy shrugged. "Whatever." He really didn't care. All he wanted was kid candy anyway. Feeling emboldened by his father's sudden interest in trick-or-treating Sev asked. "Can we go over to Victoria Lane? They give out better candy over there."

"S'pose we can make our way over that way," Toby agreed. "We have to go around here first."

Severus wasn't going to argue this point; as long as they made their way around to the 'good' neighborhoods. Outside Spinner's End at dusk was quiet. There weren't any other kids trick-or-treating there; those kids knew the better places to get free candy, that and the fact that most houses on the street didn't give out candy anyway. Toby and Sev's first stop was not that far away from their house which was the last on the street. "I don't think they're - - "

Toby didn't let his son finish his statement. " - - Don't worry, this is one of those special houses. We're giving a treat here, not getting one." During the last few days when Eileen was at work, Tobias had been busy breaking up the 'grown up candy' into smaller packages for easier distribution. He had also sampled quite a bit of it. He reached into his pillowcase, pulled out several bags, and replaced them in his son's pillowcase. "You bring these up there and they'll give you something in return."

"I thought you said we weren't getting anything at the special houses."

"You're not. What they give you is for me. You bring it right back here."

"Okay," the tone in Severus' voice showed he was not really enthused about this new way of trick-or-treating. The little wizard skipped up to the steps and up to the door. On knocking, the child was greeted less than enthusiastically.

"We're not giving out candy here," the woman who answered the door in her dressing gown said above the cry of various children throwing things about the room behind her.

"My Dad said - - " was all Severus could get out of his mouth.

"Who the hell is your Dad to tell you to come to my door when we didn't put the light on for you little neighbor'ood rats."

"Uh-uh - - " Sev was thinking what to say while trying to figure out why this rude lady deserved any kind of treat. While his son was stuttering, Toby was putting his face in his hand in a show of aggravation. The lady happened to see who was waiting out on the sidewalk.

"You Toby's kid?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place." She opened the door wider. "You got the stuff?"

"Stuff?" Severus regained a bit of composure. "Oh right." He handed the lady the bags of chopped up leaves. She reached into the middle of her shirt to pull a twenty out of her bra, and after further searching dug out a ten. Both bills were handed to the boy who held them by the smallest bit of their corners and as far away from himself as possible. Then the lady slammed the door shut. The boy looked confused, but wanted to get off of that stoop as quick as possible. "I didn't like that Dad."

"You don't have to like it," Toby said as he snatched the money out of his son's hand and shoved it into a pocket. "You just have to do as your told."

Now the young wizard really wasn't liking the way Halloween was starting off. Severus was beginning to put two and two together. If they didn't get some candy soon, he'd think that his father was only interested in getting money for those bags of funny tea. The next road over Tobias let Severus actually trick-or-treat at a half a dozen houses who were giving candy away before there was a second house that was going to receive 'grown up' candy. "Here now," Toby gave the boy four bags this time. "Remember to let them know who you are, tell them your Toby's boy."

Severus nodded and skipped up to the door of the brick house. He knocked. When the door opened a rather foul smell proceeded the rather foul man who opened the door. The man looked at Sev with the same skeptical scowl that the woman from the first house had. "What you want kid?"

"I'm supposed to tell you that I'm Toby's boy."

The man half smiled and laughed without opening his mouth. The ha ha ha's were snort snort snorts out of his nostrils. "Leave it to Toby to think up something this sneaky."

Not really knowing, Severus was becoming more convinced that what his father was asking him to do was not completely on the up and up. With a shaking hand he shoved the bags of pot at the man. The man told the boy to "Wait here." Then he came back with Toby's money. The man handed the boy three twenties then took a ten and stuck it in a pocket on his Halloween costume. "You keep that for yourself. Don't think Toby would give you a share for doing such a good job."

Severus still didn't understand what all of this was about, but he like the idea that he had a secret from his father. He didn't have to tell Toby the man had given him the extra ten. He went back to where his father was waiting and handed him the money. "If those are treats," the boy asked, "why are they giving us money?"

"Never you mind," was all Toby answered. He knew Severus was a bright kid. This was probably the only time he was going to get away with using him to cover his activities. The boy would begin to ask his mother questions like, 'what's grown up candy?' or something to that effect if the father kept this up. In the next few blocks Toby let Sev go to nearly all of the houses. He was getting quite a haul. Toby hoped that would keep the boy quiet when they went to the next house for a 'buy.' This house had other kids gathered at the stoop. "Wait," were the instructions.

Making sure no other kids were anywhere near this house Toby sent Sev up with the same instructions as the last place. Severus was surprised that this man didn't look as scuzzy as the first two people to be treated by his father. The man opened the door all ready to give out candy like Severus was any other trick-or-treater. He had even asked, "well what have we got here, is it Merlin?"

Sev remembered his mother's admonition not to argue with muggles about the difference between Merlin and Dumbledore and nodded before informing he was 'Toby's boy.'

"Oh." The man looked a bit surprised, as if he had expected something different than a tiny kid out for Halloween. "Uh here." The man handed Severus a couple of candy bars and said, "Umm tell your dad, Toby's your dad?" Sev nodded. "Tell your dad I changed my mind." Weather the man had felt he were being set up, or if he had a genuine change of heart at seeing Snape use his son in such a despicable manner, he was not buying.

The little boy ran back to where his father was waiting. "Where's the money?"

"That man said to tell you he changed his mind."

"Where's the bag?"

The boy's head swung as he looked left and right trying to remember what he had done with the bag his father had given him. "I think I dropped it."

"You THINK you dropped it?" Bad Toby was getting ready to make an appearance. "Well you best find where you dropped it before I drop all of this." Toby held up Severus' pillowcase of Halloween treats threatening to dump it out. He looked around in fear that some other kids might show up soon. "NOW!"

Severus jumped dropping the second pillowcase with the candy the man at this house had given him, and ran back to the porch where he thought he dropped the bag. The boy was down on his hands and knees searching when the man who lived in the house opened the door again. The man asked "What are you doing?"

"Looking."

The man seemed truly concerned for the boy. "Looking for what?"

"I dropped it." Sev looked frantic.

"Dropped what the candy I gave you?"

"No the other stuff. The grown up candy you didn't want."

The man's expression looked as if he were going to be sick. He went out and helped the boy look. It didn't take long for him to see it between the porch and a straggly shrub. "Her it is." The man picked it up, but didn't give it back to the boy. He took Severus by the hand and walked back to Toby. "Take this." The man shoved the bag of drugs into Tobias' chest. "And don't come back here."

"That's not what you said yesterday," Toby said as the man walked back to his house.

The man turned back to say, "Well that was a mistake."

Toby made a 'pish' like hiss behind the man. "Someone else will be more than happy to buy it." The man kept walking. Toby shoved the candy back into his son's hands. "That's a man with no balls." Severus wasn't sure that was an accurate statement.

The next thing Sev did surprised Toby. He asked, "Can we go home now?"

Toby looked almost disgusted at the boy. "I thought you wanted to go to that fancy neighborhood and get the fancy candy they give out there?"

"I did."

"Oh, I see. You're going to be like ball-less and change your mind."

"Dad - - " Severus looked up at his father with a look that would have killed any other father if their son had looked at them like that. "What we're doing is wrong isn't it?"

"You figured that out did you?" Toby said this in a mocking tone. "These people are waiting, so you can either go home on your own, or, you can keep doing what we've been doing and I'll take you over to Victoria Lane." Toby really didn't want to be the one going to the doors. That would look a bit suspicious. The cover of Severus trick-or-treating was just too good to not try and convince the boy to continue. "Come on Sevvy, don't be a coward."

Now the boy's eyes were not sad, they blazed with inner anger. A full scowl was on his face. He would show his dad who the coward was, and it wasn't him.

tbc


	37. Where You Belong

Wonderful chapter 35

Where You Belong

Halloween 1966 went on. Severus and his weed dealing daddy were heading out of the riverfront area where they lived. They were heading into better areas. For Sev this meant better candy. For Toby it meant nervous buyers. When they reached a house where Toby had arranged a drop Severus was the only kid going up to that door. There was a gate, and it looked dark. One nosey mother of another little trick-or-treater pointed out, "There's no light there. I'm not sure if any of the children should go up there."

"Oh," Toby thought of a convincing lie. "He's going to surprise a friend of mine who wanted to see the little blighter in his costume."

"Oh," The woman appeared to be embarrassed, but placated.

The little wizard was knocking on the door. A shade on the door window flipped up. The boy saw a pair of eyes look out at him, than the blind fell shut. The door opened and Severus found that the eyes were attached to a nervous man who was skinny, and wearing a loud colored flower pattern shirt. "Hey little guy," the man said while looking out to the road. He seemed jumpy. "You Toby's kid?"

"Yes."

"Cool. You got the stuff?"

"Yes."

"A man of few words." Sev didn't even respond to this. "Down to business then. Here is the money my good man." Sev took the money and handed the man three bags of the funny tea. He wandered if the man would notice there was one short. The man ruffled up the boys hair before ending with, "See ya little guy."

Severus' lip curled into a sneer as the door shut. "Not if I can help it, bug jerk," he said under his breath. Toby saw the sly grin on his son's face when he handed him the money. Tobias counted the bills to make sure the boy hadn't pocketed some of it. 'Must have gotten some sweets as well.' If Toby only knew, what Sev had gotten was him. The little boy wasn't sure how he was going to do it, but he would use his father's own tricks to as the saying goes, fix his wagon. 

Toby wanted the boy to keep doing as he had been and not call any attention to himself. "Only one more, then we can go to that fancy neighborhood you wanted to go to." The boy forced a smile at his father's words. At this point he didn't care, but he wasn't going to say no either. After a few more blocks of trick-or-treating in this part of town, Toby's last drop off was over and Severus was relieved. They were making their way to what Tobias called the 'fancy' neighborhood. Lots of kids who didn't live there had the same idea. People still had to go through the archway of the now gone gate that in years past kept such riffraff as the Snapes out of the once exclusive area of the city. 

At one of the houses Severus could hear the lady giving out candy say to her husband, "I don't mind the ones from the Middlebury subdivision coming here, but some of those older kids from the 'End' don't' even bother with costumes. I'm not going to give candy to the ones with no costume."

"It's a holiday dear," the husband reminded. "Plus they'll probably come back and egg the car or the house if you don't."

"What do we pay taxes for?" There was no reply. One could imagine the man hiding behind a newspaper ignoring his wife as she continued, "What are the police for?"

It was the first time Severus felt a bit uneasy about where he lived. He wondered if he woman would spot him as a Spinner's End kid right off the bat. She didn't. "Oooh, look, it's Merlin." He was afraid she might pinch his cheek or something, thankfully she didn't. Her hands were too busy holding out a big bowl of chocolate bars. "Now you go and pick out two." The boy did just that. "Oh you just look so cute, take another." He looked doubtful, but Sev reached in for one more. 

'She couldn't tell I was from the riverfront,' Severus thought. He was feeling as if he had gotten away with something. This would be one of the boy's first lessons on how appearances often hid the truth.

Though Tobias was itching to get home and count his money from tonight's venture, he let his son keep celebrating the holiday. The boy was actually getting a fairly good haul of sweets. When the bag looked as if it were getting too heavy for the boy to carry, Tobias figured it was time to go home. Severus didn't even mind, he was happy with his Halloween loot. Little did he know how close he was to someone he had hoped to see again ever since the day in the park. Indeed Severus would have missed them all together if he had not heard one of them complaining. "I still don't understand why I had to be the devil." He didn't know the blond girl's name, but he knew it was the same one. She stood there in a little red devil costume with her hands folded around her pitchfork.

The mother explained, "You're too big for the other costume. It fits Lily, so she gets to wear it. And I think the two of you together look cute."

Then he saw her. Now he knew her name. The red haired girl whom Severus was sure had a touch of magic. She was in a white and gold angel costume. When she ran back from the door of the house she had just come from her wings shimmered in the streetlights. He could have swore there were a few times her feet were not touching the ground. Severus took in a gasping breath. When he breathed out he said the name he now knew was hers, "Li-ly."

"Oi, Sev," Toby called noticing he had walked three more houses ahead while his son watched the other kids. "Let's go."

Severus looked back and forth between the little angel and his father a few times. Lily's mother was taking the two girls in the opposite direction, but he waited till they were almost out of sight. 

"You deaf?" Toby growled. He was now right next to Sev.

"No," Severus mumbled.

"Then what's the hold up?"

"Nothing."

The father began walking away, this time the son was right on his heals. He began to think, 'Next year I'll have to look for the devil costume. She'll of outgrown the angel.' He took one more look behind himself and could barely make out the shinny little wings. Again he sighed out, "Li-ly."

"What?" Toby heard something, but he didn't know what.

"Nothing."

Toby shook his head wondering why if it were nothing did the boy keep opening his mouth. Severus didn't so much a peep the rest of the way home. In his mind however he was trying to figure out how he was going to 'run into' Lily again. They were all fantasies as he had no idea where she lived. He still believed he had to run into her again. She might be the only other magical kid in the whole of the city. There just were not that many witches and wizards living among muggles. The walk back to Spinner's End, and the last house on the street brought into sharp relief something the boy had not thought of before. The houses in Victoria Lane were like nothing he'd ever seen before. They were big and clean with lawns that were landscaped. Even in the Middlebury subdivision where the houses all looked the same, they had yards and no trash wafting about them. Spinner's end was all cement and bricks. There were no trees or grass here. There were overturned trash bins and rather large rats running here and there. For the first time in his short life, the boy realized there was a difference in people. It was the first time he felt less than others. Why did they live in such a crappy place when only a few blocks away there was suburban heaven?

'I bet that's where she lives,' Severus thought to himself. The boy's thoughts were interrupted by his father grabbing a bin lid and tossing it at the rats that were congregating on the Snape stoop. "Get out of here you filthy - - " Toby stopped yelling as he realized the rats couldn't understand him anyway. He had been wondering almost the same thing. 'Why do we live in this rat hole.' Even when they had had some money they lived there. Toby thought of the money he had made that night and wondered if Eileen would consider leaving the place. 

It wasn't that late, but Tobias was tired. "I'm going to bed," he notified. He vaguely remembered Ele telling him to inspect the candy Severus brought home. He looked in the pillowcase he had in his own hands. It only had a couple of candy bars in it. He took them out and saw that they looked fine. "Here." He handed the chocolate to Severus. "You can eat this, but wait till your mum looks at the stuff in yours." With that Toby climbed the stairs to go to sleep. This worked out better than Sev would have ever wished. He had been planning an elaborate reason to go upstairs before his father got a look at what was in his pillowcase. Now he didn't even need it. As far as not eating any of the candy in his pillowcase, fat chance.

Severus dumped all of the candy on the dusty braided rug on the living room floor and began sorting it out into favorites ,and not so favorites. In the middle of all of it was the bag of funny tea. The little wizard was thinking where the most strategic place to leave it for his mother to find and there would be no question that his father had forgotten it there, not that he had planted it there. If Toby even suspected Sev was the one setting him up, the boy might not reach that seventh birthday that loomed a little more than two months in the future. Toby would tear him limb from limb. Sev knew he would be safe to leave it in-between the cushions of the sofa. Wasn't' that where his father had sat every night that week smoking another bag of it. 

The boy was clever enough to make the bag look like it wasn't new, or full. He ripped the top open and took out a handful that he dumped down the sink before stuffing it in the spot he knew his mother would eventually find it. Indeed when Eileen Snape came home from work early in the morning hours she was screeching, "TOBIAS SNAPE! WHAT DID YOU DO!"

A groggy Severus woke up thinking, 'Wow, that was quick.'

She wasn't yelling about what the boy thought she was yelling about. She was yelling about what she saw the first thing she came in the door; That being her son sleeping on a large pile of candy. Toby being so used to Eileen's Banshee like rants only turned over in bed. Severus heard his mother storm up the stairs and begin to ream out his father. "I only asked you to do one thing. One lousy thing Tobias Snape and you couldn't even do that!"

"ComeoneEle." Toby ran his words together. "What'sthebigdeal?"

"The big deal is, our son is downstairs laying on a huge pile of unchecked, teeth rotting sweets!" Eileen went on, "I asked you to look at the candy to make sure it was safe, you can't be careful these days. AND I told you to take out anything hard or sticky that might break any of Sev's teeth. And I asked you to make sure he didn't eat too much of it and rot his teeth any more than they already are."

"Good grief woman." Toby rolled over again. Ele whipped the sheets off of him. 

"Don't you good grief me. Get your lazy behind downstairs and sort it out." Eileen sat and took off her shoes. She was tired herself. 

Severus could hear the thuds of footsteps he knew did not belong to his mother, but he pretended to sleep on. He felt himself being pulled up by his costume cape. He could hear it ripping as well. "I TOLD YOU," Toby now yelled at Sev. "You could only eat the candy I gave you!"

"I - - I didn't eat any of it," Sev lied. "I was just sorting it out."

Toby threw the boy away from the pile of candy. He hit the floor. "I'll be the one doing the sorting out."

Sev's dad began to sort out the offensive pieces that his mother had thought would ruin his teeth more than they already were. Any hard candy, or lollipops, or gooey things like taffy or - - "No, not the licorice, that's my favorite."

"Don't care what your favorite is," Toby gruffed. "Jawbreakers?" They went to the offensive pile. Severus was beginning to think the only thing left was going to be chocolate. To add insult to injury, Toby popped one of the caramel toffees into his own mouth. "No need for it to go to waste." When he was done Severus' pile of acceptable candy was considerably small. "And you don't get any of it unless your mum tells you, you can." Toby stuffed the chocolate into a draw in a desk, and the unacceptable candy went back into the pillowcase. "I'll bring this upstairs where you can't get at it."

Severus' eyes burned at the spot where his father had stood as if he could set the man on fire if he looked intently enough. He couldn't wait for his mother to find the funny tea. He knew Toby would get his when she did.

tbc


	38. Trap Snapped

BIG, big, big appologies for the wait. Without going into details, April was a bh.

Wonderful chapter 36

Trap Snapped

The rest of that night Severus felt bitterly disappointed. After all of that walking and knocking on doors, he ended up with less than a dozen chocolate bars. 'Suppose it's better than nothing,' he told himself as he thought of his Halloween loot in the drawer down stairs. He wanted to sleep, but his mind kept racing. 'How long will it take Mum to find Dad's funny tea?' 'What if Dad sees it before he goes to work?' The boy eventually nodded off, but every noise woke Severus up again. He could have saved himself a night of anxiety if he had just shown his mother what his father had been up to. In his little boy's way of thinking, Sev thought if he did that he'd pay for tattling. If Eileen ran across the evidence on her own, Severus could deny any of Tobias' accusations.

Both Snape men were up early the next morning. When he heard his father clomping down the stairs, Sev silently went from his room to the top of the steps. The boy positioned himself so he could see down to the sofa while remaining unseen. All went well as Toby ate breakfast in the kitchen, then was strait off to work; no stop at the sofa. Now all Severus had to do was wait for his mother to wake up. Ele had been waking up later in the weeks she had been working at the Serpent's Tongue, so it was around ten when she came down stairs. Severus had been amusing himself with various things around the house. He had even managed to get Agri to talk to him again; she told him the names of all the plants in the kitchen garden box again. This time Sev thought he might remember them all.

Ele looked in the fridge. "You eat breakfast?" she asked. Her son shook his head. He hadn't even thought of eating. He just wanted her to find the artifact he had planted in the sofa. "We can't have that now can we?" Sev shrugged. Wondering why he wasn't saying much she questioned, "Worn out from last night?"

Reminded of Halloween, Severus finally spoke. "Can I have one of my chocolate bars? Dad hid them in the living room."

Eileen gave her son a stern look. "You know that's not a good breakfast."

"but that's what I want." That was what every kid wanted the morning after Halloween.

"Tell you what," Eileen made a suggestion, "you eat a bowl of cornflakes, and I'll let you have a chocolate bar for later."

Sev really didn't like the sound of cold soggy cereal but he had a plan. He asked, "Can we eat breakfast in the living room?"

"Why would we do that," Ele countered as she poured out two bowls of cereal, "When we have a perfectly good table right here?" She patted Severus' place at the table. The milk was poured over the flakes and the boy reluctantly sat. A few tentative spoonfuls in his mother saw the look on Sev's face. "You'd think I put a bowl of flobber worms in front of you."

Eileen had to suppress a laugh when her son retorted, "They'd probably have more flavor than this junk." A stern look followed. After a few more mouthfuls of the cardboard like cereal Severus noted, "If you had your wand, you could make it taste like chocolate."

Teasingly his mother came back with, "I could also make it taste like flobber worms."

A groan of "Ick," was followed by a scrunched up face.

"A minute ago, you said you'd prefer the worms," Ele continued to tease.

"I'd prefer if you bought the cereal that already tastes like chocolate."

"And how do you know about that?"

Severus had to think fast. He didn't want his mother to know that on some of his free roaming days, when muggle kids were in school, he had gone into a store that gave free samples and he'd made out like a bandit until they told him to leave. "Some kid told me about it," he tried to pass off.

"What kid?" Eileen's tone became stern. "You know you're not supposed to get chummy with muggle kids. And there are no wizarding kids around here."

"Just some kid." The boy swallowed and his eyes shifted.

"Severus Snape, I know when you are lying."

"I'm not getting chummy with any muggle kids Mum, I promise."

Looking to her son's eyes Ele knew that part of Sev's story was true. "If you promise."

Mother and son went back to eating the tasteless breakfast. The boy was not giving up on one subject. "Now that both you and Dad are working - - " he tested the waters. "Couldn't you get one box of something that doesn't taste nasty?"

'This doesn't taste nasty," Eileen proclaimed. "It barely has any taste." She dropped her spoon into the bowl and pushed it away from herself.

"See," Severus said waggling an accusatory finger at his mother. "You don't like it either."

Another laugh had to be suppressed by the young parent. "That is neither here nor there. It's good for you; it won't rot your teeth like that sugary one; and we still have to watch our money. Merlin knows when your Dad will screw up again." Eileen couldn't believe she'd said that out loud.

Silently Severus thought, 'Sooner than you know.' Then he wondered if throwing Toby under a bus was the right thing to do. His desire to do something he felt his father deserved out weighed any consequence the boy could think of. He finished the cereal without further comment. When he was done he inquired, "Can you teach me a spell today?"

Eileen sighed. "Without a - - " She stopped her comment about not having her wand short. An idea had come into her mind. "Find Agri and bring her into the living room."

For two reasons inside Sev was shouting a silent 'yes!' One, a magic lesson was on the way, and two, Eileen was closer to finding Toby's secret. The little wizard found Agri where he had left her among the other plants. Wrapping his fingers around her stem torso whisking her into the other room.

"Whoaaaaaaaaa," the plant said in surprise.

"Sorry Agri. We're going to do magic." Severus plunked her down on the floor in front of the sofa containing what he wanted his mother to find. He sat next to the animated plant and waited. As he knew she would Eileen came in a few minutes later a mug of coffee in her hands. She took a sip before sitting right next to the bag of pot in the crevasse of the cushions.

"Now Severus," She began. "I want you to try and figure out what Agri is thinking."

"Muuuum - - " Sev pointed out, "I can already tell what people are thinking."

"Believe it or not, it's harder to penetrate the mind of an enchanted object than an unshielded person."

Cocking his head Sev argued, "That doesn't make sense. People's minds are more complex that a flower's."

"but Agri is enchanted. It's the enchantment that makes it harder.

Still not believing it would be more difficult to see what a plant was thinking than seeing what cards Toby's buddies were holding he tried to see into Agri's thoughts. It proved harder than the boy expected.

"See," Ele gloated.

"What's the trick?"

"It's not a trick; it's a skill. One I expect you to master eventually." This made the boy a bit intimidated. "But for now, I will be happy with one of her thoughts."

Most of what the boy could sense was that the plant was chiefly concerned with the intake of oxygen and nitrogen, even if he didn't know what they were called, and the searching for a source of water. "I gave you water this morning," the boy blurted out at the plant.

"That doesn't mean I can stop looking for it," the plant shot back.

While Ele took another sip of coffee, Severus notice another thought coming from Agri. "She doesn't like you drinking that in front of her."

"Is that so?" Ele asked the flower.

"I know the smell of steeped _Caffea Fadenii _when I smell it."

The little wizard thought he was being cleaver when he pointed out, "How can you smell it? You don't have a nose."

"Not one as obvious as yours." Severus gave a sour look as Agri continued, "I can, as it were, 'smell' things through every cell I have."

"Oh." The boy wondered if he could smell things with, say, his finger or elbow; spell not withstanding. "That must be weird."

"Not at all." The flower puffed up with pride. "As a matter of fact, I can tell that this room contains 80 dust; You young man did not wash today; and there is a small amount of - - " Agri became agitated in her manner. "Oh my! What did they do to you Cannabis? Dried up; encased in a film of plastic parchment, and stuffed in a sofa - - " her flower head drooped. "Poor Cannabis."

Eileen came out of the relaxed state she was in. What was the anivegi saying? What was next to her? She reached down between the cushions and felt the plastic and dry leaves. Underneath her breath she swore, "I'm going to hex that man into December." Other than that Eileen gave no sign of what she'd found though Severus knew his trap had been sprung. Feigning innocence, the tricky boy asked, "What's the matter Agri? Who's Cannabis? A friend of yours?"

Before the living flower could answer, Eileen ordered, "Don't you dare answer that question Agri."

"But Mistress Eileen - - "

"Severus is too young to know about that plant." If she only knew how familiar he had been with it the night before. "Don't give me that look. I didn't bring it here, and you have got to face the fact that humans, weather wizard or muggle, use plants in ways that may not make you happy.

"I remember when I lived in the dirt," Agri mused. "I didn't care about such things."

The witch felt a little twang of regret wondering if she'd done the right thing in giving the flower that extra spark that might be called an individual soul; but what was done was done. She began thinking about what was going to be done to Toby when he got home. Unknown to her, her son was thinking about the exact same thing. A wide smirking smile grew on the boy's face.

tbc


	39. Unbelievable

_Yes I'm still out here. Things have been crazy._ _What's that? No I said things not me._

Wonderful chapter 37

Unbelievable

She sat there waiting; fuming; tapping her fingers and shaking her crossed leg. Severus knew his father was going to get it today. The sound of whistling and humming told them he was home. When the door flew open it was 'good' Toby who walked through it. "Hello all," he said; practically dancing in. Before he saw the scowling look his wife was giving him he continued, "Today the Snapes are going to celebrate."

'Celebrate what?' his son wondered.

Toby's hands were full of packages of what looked like food and other things. Eileen looked more confused than angry now. Sev looked just as puzzled. This was the same man who was confiscating his Halloween haul last night. Now he had what appeared to be presents for everyone. Eileen wondered, "What are you up to Tobias Snape?"

"Up to?" He questioned in return, "Can't a bloke do something nice for his family with out being up to something?"

"Not when the bloke is you."

"And why's that?"

Eileen held out what she had found in the sofa. "Because you don't know how to keep your word."

Toby looked worried for about a half a second. "That's not - - "

"Not what I think it is?"

Knowing Ele was about to blow, Toby lied, "I didn't use it." He could tell she wasn't buying it. "I won it in the poker game. I sold it. I made a nice bit of change I might add." Toby didn't know he was giving his son a master class in how to lie by telling a bit of the truth. Severus didn't dare blurt out what he longed to say, 'did to use it. And you used me to sell it.' His father sustained his fussy logic. "Sev would have seen me if I used it." Toby gave his son the look the boy dreaded; the 'keep your mouth shut' look. "You didn't see daddy smoking anything, did you Sev?" What could the boy do but go along with his father's fabrication, unless he wanted to get the thrashing of a lifetime. Slowly Sev shook his head in the negative.

"It shouldn't even be around here," Eileen said while trying to maintain her anger. "What if Sev had gotten a hold of it?" Little did she know Sev had already had gotten a hold of it. "Don't you have any sense?"

"Look Ele, you can do what ever you like with that." Toby still thought it was himself who had made the mistake. He had no idea his little boy had set him up. "I only had it because I won it. I figured why not make some money for it; Get us something nice."

Severus was watching his mother through his father's entire performance. Was she going to buy Toby's rubbish? Part of Eileen wanted to tell Tobias to take his bag of weed and get out. Another part wanted to believe he had only had the pot to sell, for money, for them. Toby was wholehearted expecting Ele to tell him to sell the last bag. She didn't. "I am going to dispose of this, and I don't' want you to bring anything like this into our home again. No matter how much muggle money you can get for it."

There was no protesting from Toby. He figured he was lucky she hadn't handed him his hat, or served butt up on a sliver platter. "Do you hear my Toby?"

For whatever reasons he had, Toby didn't want to be on his wife's bad side. "I won't. I'll never bring anything like that in here ever again." Then he said the words that made their son cringe. "I promise." Even at his young age Sev knew what a promise from his father was; worthless. Tobias could always find a loop hole. He wouldn't bring drugs into the house. He'd leave them out in the yard or something. "So - - " He felt the waters. "We going to eat this stuff, or are we going to stand here looking at each other?"

Knowing she might be being played once again, Eileen wanted to believe Tobias could be honest sometime. It seemed easier to be deceived. "You set up, while I get rid of this." And with that, the episode was over. Severus had lost.

Toby piled his packages on the sofa as if nothing had happened. His son was still wondering how his plan had not worked. "Come on boy. Help me get out the card table."

Aware he was going to have to act as if he were not disappointed, Sev moved to help his father drag out the rickety fold out table they used for when 'people' came over. People meaning Toby's drinking and card playing chums. Severus wished some wizarding people would stop in as Toby cautioned, "Be careful." Was he worried about Severus' fingers or if 'the boy' was going to break the table? "Go get the chairs," the father ordered. While the son did this, three bags Sev knew to be of the take out food kind were put on the table.

"Why don't we eat first?" Toby suggested when Ele reappeared. "It should still be hot."

A smell that suggested fish and chips was wafting from the bags. They hadn't had 'good' fish in chips for a while. Though greasy, the bags didn't smell like the burnt oil the cheep place cooked in. As the youngest Snape began to eat his chips the oldest Snape had to interrupt. "Hang on." Toby reached for another bag. "Forgot the vinegar."

"Don't like vinegar," Sev expounded.

"Sure you do," Toby ignored what his son had said. "How can you eat chips without vinegar?"

"Easily, you put ketchup on."

"We don't have any Ketchup."

"You could have got some at the shop."

"Well I didn't." Toby began to sprinkle his son's chips with vinegar from one of the small take out containers. Severus really didn't like vinegar. That didn't matter to Toby. "S'pose you want ketchup on your fish as well."

"Just let him eat, Toby," Eileen said. She was already dinging into hers.

"Sure. Go ahead and eat boy. Just can't see ruining good fish with ketchup."

"Loads of people put ketchup on their fish."

Toby snorted derisively. Severus lucked out that his father was too hungry to lash out. When they finished the fish he was ready to start up again. "Got some cake. You want ketchup on your cake as well, boy?"

"Toby - - " Ele's one word reprimand stopped him. Three pieces of cake were produce from another bag. They ate them in silence.

Eventually Eileen inquired, "So what else did you buy?"

Tobias swung around to the remaining bags on the sofa. "Got you that dress you were looking at that day we went out."

"I'm impressed you remembered," Ele said with surprise.

Her son was thinking, 'How easily you are impressed Mum.'

Toby was still rummaging. "Got myself some new stuff to wear to work." He pulled out some smaller clothes. "Even got some for the boy. Here." He shoved some jeans and shirts at his son. "And these." A pair of green high top trainers were thrust Severus' way. Severus didn't know what to do. The muggle had even gotten the right color. He knew he'd be in trouble if he didn't show appreciation.

"Thanks," Sev mumble half heartedly.

"Least you'll look like a normal kid." He held out some money towards Eileen. "Here, you go and get what other stuff you ladies wear underneath those dresses. I didn't know what to get you." Toby fumbled around in a bag holding the things he had gotten himself. He pulled out a thin book with a colorful cover. Sev knew it was a muggle kid's book. The wizard boy read the title; _'The Sword In The Stone.'_

"Thought I couldn't screw it up getting a book about King Arthur - - " He pronounced it _Ahfur_. "All little boys like King Arthur. And its got that Merlin bloke as well." The man had done oddly well in his gift choosing. "Why don't you stay down here and read while your mum and I go upstairs and - - umm - - put away the clothes." This was not a suggestion and Eileen didn't look as if she were going to do anything other than what Toby had said. "Sounds like a good idea," she agreed.

Severus couldn't believe it. His mother was not only not going to tell his father what for, she was going to 'make up' with him. Sev's parents disappeared up the stairs and the boy looked through his new book. It was boring. Not only did the story leave out many of the things the young wizard knew about Merlin, the pictures didn't move. Severus wondered if he could make these pictures move like the one in his mother's book of wizarding tales. To his great delight he could. If his parents had ventured back down the stairs they might have heard their son gloating, "Get the sword out of the stone now you dumb muggle."

tbc


	40. The Edge of Something Normal

_I wanted this chapter to be longer. I'm trying to get back into a writing grove._

Wonderful chapter 38

The Edge of Something Normal

For a few more months things went smoothly in the Snape household. Both Toby and Ele were working. As far as Eileen 'knew' Toby hadn't been drinking or messing around with any other substances. That just meant Tobias had been more cleaver and didn't bring his business home. Working down at the river port made it easy to find contacts that would supply him and he had people willing to buy at a profit to him. So far, he had kept his illegal activities to a few pounds of marijuana at a time. He was about to change that. Someone who used to deal with Stone wanted to get back at the other hooligan for a transaction he felt had not gone his way. Barnes knew that Snape was not fond of Stone. When Barnes came to Toby with his offer, Toby was wary.

"I don't know about this." Toby balked before taking a drag on the joint they had been sharing. "How do I know what you're offering isn't junk."

Barnes protested, "I only sell top quality." Snape still looked unconvinced. "Don't you want to get back at Stone?"

"Sure I do. Only problem is, he can get back at me too."

"You can make enough on this deal to get out of here."

Toby thought about that possibility. Would Eileen let him move them away from Spinner's End? If he tried to get away from her and their son she'd find him. He didn't want to imagine the witch's revenge; she had gotten her wand back. Money was always good in Toby's mind. The amount that Barnes was talking about was quite a lure.

"I'll think on it."

Before Tobias drove off to finish his legal job, Barnes told him, "You better think fast, or I'll get someone else."

When he was finished work for the day Toby didn't need to walk home. Between his and Eileen's job, they had save enough for a junk car. He drove it to work mornings and she drove it to work late afternoons. Tobias hurried home being in a good mood that day. The time they got to spend together was short. That probably kept them arguing less. On arrival Toby found Ele teaching Severus a bit of magic. Tobias had not forbidden it, as if he could. He still didn't like the idea of a gigantic flower running around his living room.

"Shrink her back Sev," Eileen told her son. "Then give me the wand."

A disappointed Severus shrunk Agri back to her normal size and handed over the wand. It had become the norm that when Tobias got home the family had their lunch together before Eileen had to leave for her job at the Serpent's Tongue. In the middle of the meal Toby inquired, "If we had enough money, would you quit working at the pub, and stay home in the evenings?"

"We don't have enough," was her response.

"But if we did?" He asked before cramming a oversized piece of roast beef into his mouth.

"IF we did, it would be nice to spend more time with you and Sev." This statement made their boy's ears perk up. If his mother was home more often, he'd learn more magic. Ele wasn't so naive as to not suspect something was up. "Why do you ask?"

"Knowing that, I might work harder and earn more money, so you don't have to work." Truth be told, if Toby went along with Barnes' plan it would be so HE wouldn't have to work. He wanted to go back to when he and Eileen had nothing but good times.

When lunch was done, Ele began to clear up. Toby had other ideas. "Let the boy take care of that."

"Toby, he's still little." Eileen was more worried that Severus would drop something sending Toby into a tirade before she went to work.

"Not too little to help his Mum out." Eileen didn't see Toby give Sev his 'you best do what I want' look. "Right boy?"

The boy got the hint. "Right," Sev answered with a shaky voice. "I've got it Mum."

He took the plates out of Ele's hands and headed for the sink. There was a moment where he wobbled, but he managed to get them in without breaking any. Seeing that her son had things under control didn't stop Ele from wiping down the table. When her hand swept close to him, Toby playfully grabbed her wrist. He pulled her over to him, sitting her on his lap.

"How about a little pudding before you go?" Tobias whispered into her ear. Eileen giggled.

Whispering hadn't kept Severus from hearing what his father had said. The boy knew it wasn't cake or pie that Toby was talking about. He knew something went on upstairs in their room when they were alone, but he wasn't sure what. He was too young to understand what went on between adults or the word for what they did. Severus knew his father was what other kids called 'horny,' whatever that was. This meant he wouldn't see his mother until she said goodbye for work.

A part of the boy wanted to smash one of the plates on the floor as his parents slipped off to go upstairs. He didn't like being left alone. He knew if he broke something, his mother would come rushing back. The problem was, his father would come rushing back as well. On the whole Severus thought it best not to break something. He'd save that ploy for a time when it would work better. He didn't want to get Toby mad this time of year. In a few days it would be Christmas, and two weeks later his birthday. This year looked like he might get a real Christmas, and a real birthday. 'Mum promised,' he thought to himself as he finished his chore. Unlike Sev's Dad, Sev's Mum kept her promises, when she made them.

tbc


	41. Muggle Way Vs Wizard Way

Wonderful chapter 39

Muggle Way Vs. Wizard Way

They had a tree. Severus couldn't believe it. They had a tree. Maybe not the best tree, but it was a real tree. "Wait till you see the trees at Hogwarts," Eileen told him as she transfigured things around the house into ornaments for her son to hang on the tree. She went on and on about how spectacular Christmas at Hogwarts was until Tobias came home. It was better if she didn't talk about the wizard school around him.

"You decorated that tree right nice," Toby complemented. "Nicer than any I ever saw." With that admission the man plopped himself down on the sofa and put his feet, work boots and all, up on the coffee table Ele had acquired.

"Do you mind," she scolded. "This isn't a barn."

Out of habit Sev got nervous. If Toby had been drinking he would have been all over Eileen in an instant. Where he was only secretly smoking, he was fairly mellow. With a snicker he took his feet off the table. "Didn't grow up in a barn," he grumbled. This was the first time Sev had heard his father speak of his past. "Might not have been as fancy as your 'palace,' but we had a house, for a bit." Toby grew strangely contemplative. "Even one of those damn caravan wagons isn't a barn."

It was Eileen who was snippy that day. "I didn't say you grew up in a barn. I just said this wasn't one." A wave of her wand removed the dry mud from the table top. Her mood was fueled by her thinking of the holidays not only at Hogwarts but with her family. Though there were sometimes she felt what Toby called a palace was more like a dungeon, she missed it. If she had really wanted to, she could show up at her father's on Christmas, but she would have to listen to the rest of the Prince family berating her and hexing her Muggle husband left and right. Merlin knows what they'd say or do to her Half-blood son. No, she didn't want to deal with that.

Feeling that his father was in a as good a mood as he could be, Severus took a piece of parchment out of his pocket and approached Tobias. "Look what I did today," he said while handing it over.

"What's this?" Toby asked.

"My list for Father Christmas. You said you'd mail it."

"So I did." The man looked at the boy's 'wish list' and nearly had a stroke. He covered his shock by telling his son, "Why don't you go find an envelope, so we can mail this." He had wanted to get the boy out of the room.

Severus didn't know that. "We can just roll it up and get an owl to bring it."

"No . . ." Toby was trying to think of how to get the boy out of hearing range without making it obvious. "We're gonna send it the regular way."

The boy's face soured. In his mind an owl was the regular way. His father insisted, "Now you go find an envelope." He knew there were no envelopes anywhere but upstairs so the boy had to go there to find one. As soon as Sev was away Toby turned to Ele and asked, "Did you see this?"

"No, Why?" Eileen asked before taking a look herself.

"Half of the stuff is from your lot, and the other half we can't afford."

Eileen had never been in such a position. As a child she was never denied anything she had ever asked for. "What did your parents say to you when they couldn't get something you wanted for Christmas?"

A strange amused, but pained look came to Toby's face. "We knew better than to actually ask for something."

Eileen thought about that statement. She thought it sad until Toby elaborated. "We knew we didn't have two sticks to rub together. We knew our parents couldn't afford fancy things. We made our own fun for the holidays."

"Like what?" Ele sat next to her husband.

"Singing songs, playing games. There was always something special to eat, that's one thing we knew how to do right."

"You were happy then?"

"I was a dumb kid. I didn't know any better. When I grew up I knew we were piss poor, and wanted nothing to do with that kind of life. And look where I am now, what a joke."

She had been feeling sorry for him until the last line. "You think our marriage, our family, is a joke?"

"Don't go twisting my words woman."

This got Ele wound up. "Don't you talk to me like that," she fumed.

Now Toby was wound up. "I'll talk to you any way I please, woman."

This was what Severus came back down into holding up the envelope he'd found. He stopped on the last step hearing his parents quarreling.

"I'm not in the mood for your nonsense Toby."

Toby kept pushing. "I'm not in the mood for your bitchiness woman."

"You did not just say that." Eileen was pointing her wand at her husband. "You want to see bitchiness, I'll show you bitchiness."

Toby saw his wife brandishing her wand in a pre-cursing motion. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You don't want those blokes from your precious ministry of magic back here now would you?"

"Maybe I would." Again she raised her wand in anger. After a few moments of looking at Tobias with her wand hand shaking, she put it down. "Damn you, you Muggle bas . . ." Seeing her son sitting on the bottom step, afraid to move any closer, stopped Eileen from calling Tobias a word she wouldn't want Severus to repeat. She turned to Toby. Through gritted teeth she told him, "You are not going to ruin this for Sev."

There was a release of air from between Toby's lips. "Bring me the envelope boy." Severus was understandably hesitant. Toby held out his open hand. "Haven't got all day, hand it over. Or don't you want Santa to get it?" This made the boy scurry right over and hand him the envelope. Sev watched as his father folded the list into a shape that would fit the envelope and seal it shut. "Go get a pen." The young wizard came back with a quill and ink. Toby rolled his eyes as he handed the envelope to his son. "You know Santa's address?"

"Of course."

"Then get to it."

Severus took the envelope and the writing utensil over to the coffee table and in his best penmanship wrote out:

To: SANTA

A.K.A Father Christmas

North Pole

Then he asked, "What country is the north pole in?"

"S'not in any country."

"It must be."

"Bloody Hell," Toby mumbled.

"Don't think it's there either," the boy wise mouthed.

Ele came in-between and told her son, "Put Canada Sev, that's close enough."

Toby was wrangling for an argument that day. "What if it's in Russia? What if Father Christmas is a Commie?"

"Knock it off Toby."

The boy ignored his father and put Canada. He knew to write their address in the correct place. "Can't I let an owl take it?" He asked when it came time for the postage.

Toby was not going to, as his wife had requested, 'knock it off.' He shouted out, "No! Santa's not a wizard so you're going to use the postal service."

"Santa, not a wizard?" Severus wanted to add, 'Are you mental?' But he liked his backside not to hurt.

"Don't listen to him," Eileen advised. "Santa is most certainly a wizard."

"Ha!" Toby snorted. "Then why does he bring stuff to Muggle children?"

"He is a kindly wizard."

"Haven't met one of them yet."

Eileen's eyes narrowed at her husband before whispering, "I don't know what crawled into your shorts today, but if you keep this up nothing else will."

The man actually took a moment to decide if he wanted his wife's attentions later that night. Eileen knew Toby's weakness. He stopped antagonizing his son and went into the kitchen to find something to eat.

"Give me the letter," Eileen asked her son. Severus handed it over. "I'll give it to an owl on the way to work." It was put into her bag. "Now, you mustn't expect Father Christmas to give you everything on your list." Sev frowned. "But I'm sure you'll get a few of them."

After nodding his understanding he asked about something he didn't understand. "Why doesn't Dad like wizards?"

"That's a good question. I wish I knew the answer." This was one of the oddities she never understood about her husband. He purposely went out looking to marry a witch. He had hoped to be included in the wizarding world somehow. He knew if they had a child it would most likely be a wizard. Hadn't he thought of that? She had thought about the possibility of her children being Muggles. This seemed to worry her less that the fact that their son was a wizard bothered Toby.

Eileen was still thinking about that question late that morning when she returned home and she was laying next to her sleeping husband. She shook him awake. "Toby."

"Uhhhh," Tobias moaned before turning over; not waking up.

"Toby." Ele poked at him again.

"Whaaaaat?"

"Whaaaat, was that nonsense you were spouting this afternoon?"

"You woke me up to ask me that?" Toby was rolling over again.

Eileen shook the whole bed. "Yes, I woke you up to ask you that. What did you mean by starting up a few days before Christmas?"

"Me?" Toby turned back over to face her. "You were the one getting all bent out of shape."

"I was just being crabby, you were being insufferable."

"You want to start it up again?"

"No, I don't. I want things to be nice this year. Last year was terrible, and Sev can't remember when it was good."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go out and get one of those things that was on Sev's list."

"Right, I'll just pop down to the department store and get a flying broom and a cauldron shall I?"

"I didn't mean the wizard things. I got one of those, all you have to do is get one of the Muggle things." Toby didn't say anything. "Like a bike, or a model rocket, or something."

"A bike?"

"Don't you tell me we can't afford it. I know what we have. You just don't want to spend it. What kind of a father doesn't want to spend money for his boy at Christmas?"

"Alright, alright, I'll get the bike."

"Today."

"Yeah, yeah today." With that Toby rolled back over to go back to sleep.

Under her breath Ele said, "you better.'

tbc


	42. T'was The Night Before

Wonderful

Chapter 40

T'was The Night Before

The day before Christmas found Toby waiting for his pay and the hoped for holiday bonus. He was the last driver to get in and so the last one to get paid. The pay clerk wanted to get home so she had his money ready and waiting. After she checked his time card, he often forgot to get the foreman's signature for all of the runs he claimed. This time it was without flaw. The clerk recounted before handing the money over, then Toby counted. Then he asked, "Hey, have you forgotten something?"

The pay clerk had to think a moment. "Oh, right." She took the hint. "Sorry my mind is on tomorrow." She handed Toby a slip of paper. "There you go."

Toby looked at the piece of paper. It wasn't a check. It was a voucher for a turkey at the market round the corner. "What's this?"

"This year Mr. Leech is giving everyone those in lieu of a cash bonus."

With a huff and a scowl, Tobias showed his displeasure. The Pay clerk was not sympathetic, "For Mr. Leech, that's generous."

"I can't bloody well buy a kid a bike with a coupon for a turkey now can I?"

"Sorry." She didn't sound all that sorry as she pulled the pay window shut. From behind her barrier Toby could hear her wish a "Merry Christmas."

A few things ran through Toby's mind as he stood staring at the voucher. One, that he worked for a cheapskate. Two, that he needed to get his errands done before getting home in time for Eileen not to be late for her shift a the pub. He recounted his pay and wondered how much a bike for a kid as small as Sev was going to cost him. He looked at the turkey coupon again to see it was only good until Dec. 24th. 'Great,' he thought. 'Get it today or don't even get that.'

"Come on Toby," the foreman called out. "Move your car so I can lock the gate. I want to get home to my family."

"Right Chet." Anyone else asking Tobias Snape to move his car would not have been answered so politely. Toby wanted to get going anyway. On the way to get the turkey he passed a toy store. Luck was with him in that there was an empty parking space right in front. 'Yes!' Toby thought triumphantly. 'Someone must have just pulled out.' He climbed out of the car and joined the other last minute shoppers looking through the shop's window. There were a few bikes, but they were all to big for Severus. The price hanging off of the handlebars gave Toby doubts as well. 'Fifty pounds.' This was not the shop for him.

The grocery where the turkey voucher came from was at the corner of that block so Toby walked down there. The help at the grocery were all dressed as elves. One of them greeted Toby with a perky, "How may I help you today?"

"You can take care of this," Toby said while shoving the coupon under her nose.

"Oh." Her disposition changed. "Follow me." The now dejected elf led Toby to a freezer case that looked like a vast chasm with only a half a dozen puny frozen turkeys at the bottom of it. "Take your pick."

What Toby really wanted to do was tell elf girl where she could stuff that eight lb. turkey, but free was free. He reached in for the one that looked the biggest. He looked at the pathetic thing. "Ho, ho, ho," he mumbled to himself.

"Anything else?" the shop girl inquired.

"Are you kidding me? With the prices in this place."

"Guess not."

Tobias departed with his 'bonus' and walked back to the car where he found a traffic officer placing a ticket on the windshield. "No, no, no," Toby said as he hustled to get there. "Wait, what's that for?"

"You read the sign?"

He hadn't. He looked now. It read: No Parking Noon to Nine PM

"Hey, it's only ten past."

"Noon means noon." The officer went on down the line of cars writing tickets and Toby looked at his. "Five Pounds CRAP!" 'Well, I don't have to pay it today,' he thought. He probably wouldn't pay it at all. It went in the glove compartment after Toby tossed the frozen turkey on the passenger seat. Buying toys was not something Toby had much experience in. He sat there thinking. Getting something cheep was something he knew about. Toby drove to his favorite second hand store.

"Hey there T," the man running the store seemed to know Snape. "What you got for me today?"

"Not selling today Max," Toby offered. "You got any bikes for really little kids?"

"That would be called a tricycle."

"No, he ain't that little."

Max went to rummage around his junk shop. He came back with the pronouncement, "Lot of the kids like these racing bikes these days."

One look at the slick ten speed with curved handle bars made Toby shake his head. "Definitely not. Just a kid's bike Max. Something cheep."

"'Kay T." The racing bike was rolled back and Max reappeared with a large but narrow box. It had a picture of a kid the appropriate age riding a bike on it. "Only ten pounds."

"Ten Pounds?"

"Brand new T. For another five pounds, I can put it together for ya."

Toby handed over the ten pounds and took the box. 'Gonna have to put the bloody thing together as well. Little puke better appreciate it.' After calling his son a 'little puke' in his head, he thought he aught to get a few other small things for the kid. He didn't want Eileen to be in a bad mood because he didn't listen to her.

When Toby arrived home with only a half thawed turkey in his hand Ele gave him her most irritated look. He knew what she was thinking. "It's in the car trunk. Didn't know if Sev was going to be downstairs now did I?"

A kiss was given before Eileen asked, "So, what's with the turkey?"

"Humph, that is my Christmas bonus care of the Leech shipping company."

This garnered a sympathetic look. "Let's hope Joe is a bit more giving."

Feeling Ele had opened the door Toby verbalized, "Speaking of Joe, Does he still have that thing for the kids on Christmas Eve?"

"Yes."

"You think we could bring Severus down there for a bit, seeing other kids will be there and all?"

Not thinking it was a good idea for Sev or Toby, Ele worried. Toby knew what to say. "I know Joe lets the kids stay until eight on Christmas Eve.

"I know," Eileen said with hesitance. "It's you I'm worried about."

"Come on Ele, Just one, to celebrate the holiday."

"You never stop at one thought."

"I will," Toby proclaimed before uttering his favorite words, "I promise." There was a long silent pause. "Doesn't Tripper dress up like Father Christmas and give the kids treats?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you want Sev to have a little fun?" Tobias knew how to play Eileen like a fiddle. He knew he could get to her through their son.

Some Pubs on the river front would not have been a place for kids anytime, but the Serpent's Tongue did serve families food in the afternoons. Then the kids that were there were kicked out before the serious drinkers arrived at night.

"I suppose." Ele mulled the idea over as Toby looked like an expectant kid himself. He hadn't had a 'night out' in a while, and there she could keep an eye on him. "For today."

"There's my girl."

Toby went to hug Ele, but she warned him, "You remember what day tomorrow is, and keep to your promise. Just one."

Changing the subject Toby asked, "Where should I stash - -" He lowered his voice. "The bike?" This was a first, Tobias Snape not knowing where to stash something.

"Keep it in the car. When you bring Sev home, send him to bed, then you can get it out and put it together." She paused. "You do know how to put it together?"

"Ele, don't start."

Eileen threw up her hands in surrender. "Give me the bird. Hope the thing will be thawed out by tomorrow."

"Look at the thing, it's so puny. Don't know how it couldn't be."

While his wife brought the bird to thaw in the kitchen sink, Toby went to his favorite spot; the sofa. Before falling asleep he made up his mind that Barnes' offer was exactly what he needed to get out of working for a man who thought a scrawny turkey was a Christmas bonus. Things were turning his way, he could feel it. If he could talk Eileen into letting him in a pub, and even if it was only one, having a drink, he was getting back into a 'lucky' grove.

When Ele came back Toby was fast asleep. 'May as well let him get a snooze in.' Then she thought of the other man in her life. "Severus," she called out to her son as she climbed the stairs. "Sev."

Severus had been reading and was lost in the book's pages. He'd have to stop pretending to be the great wizard who could stop ten knights with the wave on his hand, for the moment. "What Mum?" He shouted back, not moving.

"What?" Ele said in a mimic. "I'll tell you what. We're going to do something special today."

Not sure what to think the boy asked, "We are?"

"You and Daddy are going to come down to the pub with me."

Severus didn't know what was special about that. His face told her this.

"We're going to have supper there, and they'll be lots of other people with kids singing Christmas songs and, I have heard on good information, that someone special might show up."

It didn't take Sev long to figure out. "Father Christmas?"

"Joe told me he likes to stop in for a pint before he finishes his rounds."

"Really?" The boy's eyes were as big as saucers now.

"Really. So you need to got take a bath and put your best on." The boy frowned. The look his mother gave back told him there was no getting out of it. "I need you to be quick. Mummy needs to get ready too. Then Daddy." She knew Dad wouldn't need as long as she would.

"All right," Sev mumbled before heading for the tub. Severus didn't care for their tub. Sometimes the water was a funny orange color like the large rust stain near the drain. Sometimes there were spiders in there.

tbc


	43. Author checking in

I am sorry, sorry, sorry this is not a chapter, but,

I wanted to chime in and let people reading this, and my other stories that I haven't fallen off the planet... It just seems like it.

I will be continuing all of my stories, I've just been having a crazy life at the moment.

Thanks for reading and especially the people who reviewed too!


	44. Hey Tannenbaum

Wonderful chapter 41

Hey Tannenbaum

His mother had told him to dress in his best. That was his newer jeans, a white dress shirt, and a black jumper. It didn't look very Christmassy, but that wouldn't matter where they were going. Eileen had told Severus to wait downstairs while she and Toby got ready, and not get himself dirty in the meanwhile. The boy didn't mind waiting; he spent that time looking at the tree. He spent a good ten minutes imagining all the things Father Christmas might leave under it. After that short while, sitting and looking at the tree was not enough. Severus crawled right under it to see how much space was there.

"Oh yeah," the boy thought aloud. "Lots of things can fit under here." Severus closed his eyes and the presents appeared in his imagination. A random thought of magicing a few things crossed his mind, only he didn't know any of the incantations. 'Couldn't hurt to try, could it?' He convinced himself. Reaching out for magic, Sev could feel a tingling all over. No presents appeared, but he heard something. A low bass voice said one word, * Dry. *

A surprised Severus answered, "What?"

* Dry. * It _was_ the tree. "If you could be so kind as to bring me a spot of water, it would be greatly appreciated."

Rolling out from under the tree, Severus jumped to his feet and looked intently at the tree. His little hand reached out to touch a branch. "You're not alive like Agri," he said to himself. Indeed the tree did not move. Severus closed his eyes and listened again.

"Water, please young Sir."

"Sure." He had said this slowly, but he ran quickly to the kitchen sink to fill a tumbler with water. As fast as he could safely bring it back to the tree he did. The tree soaked up the water as soon as the boy poured it in the base. "You need more than that."

The second time at the sink, Severus' little flower friend stood there tapping her root-foot on the counter. Severus ignored her, to get more water to the tree. The third time Agri was in the sink, next to the turkey, unavoidable. "And just who are you watering instead of me?"

"The Christmas tree."

"You mean that carcass you dragged in here?" Agri was once again offended by the ways humans used her kin. It didn't seem to bother her about the bird carcass she stood next to.

"Why do you get upset about that, when you were so proud to tell me all the things you're good for in potions and stuff?"

The little plant had to think about that. "When a plant gives freely, and has a purpose that's one thing. When humans just take and do what they want, it's another." She did not say, 'Humph,' but she did fold her branch-arms and stuck what passed for her nose in the air.

"W-e-l-l." The boy thought he had her now. "Maybe this tree is proud of being a Christmas tree. It's special."

"Special." The plant still sounded indignant.

"Why don't you go ask him, if you're so sure?"

"I will!" Agri climbed over the turkey to get out of the sink. Severus took the opportunity to get more water while Miss. Flower looked down to the floor from the counter. "Ahem," Agri voiced before the boy could reach the doorway. "A lift would be nice."

With a furrow on his brow, Sev let Agri hop into the tumbler of water so she could be carried to where the tree was. The boy looked around to make sure his father wasn't around. "Okay, get out and ask."

After soaking up as much water as her small size allowed, the enchanted flower climbed out of the glass while mumbling, "Wasting good water on someone who's half dead already."

"Ask."

With all politeness Agri sidled up to the tree and said, "Good day Mr. Tree."

"Good day Miss. Flower," the tree replied in kind.

"Severus tells me that I am wrong to think you'd rather still be attached to your roots out in the forest. Is that so?"

The flower did not ask the question in the way Severus had hoped, but the tree's answer pleased him to no end.

"Are you Crazy? Do you know how long I've been waiting to be a, Christmas tree?" The question was rhetorical, as Tree was going to tell her anyway. "Then I was in that horrible lot thinking no one would pick me." Poor Tree was a bit straggly. "I am so honored to be a Christmas tree. To bring joy to a child."

Tree would have gone on but for Agri's interruption. "You won't feel the same when they toss you next to the bins and you shrivel up, turning brown."

"What's that?"

Severus grabbed Agri, covering her mouth. "Nothing," the boy said before carrying the flower back into the kitchen. "That was mean Agri."

"I told him the truth. Not that he believed it."

"Well you better stop it."

"No," Agri boldly resisted.

"Tree is so happy being a Christmas tree, don't spoil it for him."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because . . ." Sev had to think. "Because, if you tell him anymore, I'll make you stay in the back yard with the weeds until Christmas is done!"

Agri looked aghast. "You . . . You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" The look in the young wizard's eyes told the magic flower he would.

"All right, all right." She gave in. "Not another word to the tree. Poor ignorant Tree."

"And none of that trying to make me feel guilty stuff either."

"Oh, all right."

"As a matter of fact, you better stay in here."

"Fine." Agri huffed and went back to her hiding place among the un-enchanted flowers in Eileen's herb garden. "Just ducky."

More water was brought out to the perplexed tree. "Is what that flower said true?" The boy didn't answer. "I have noticed I've lost quite a few needles and . . ."

"Don't worry about it." Severus' voice lowered to tell Tree, "You're a Christmas tree and it's Christmas eve. That's all that matters." This put the tree at ease. The boy heard the heavy steps of his father on the upstairs landing. "I'm going to have to pretend I can't hear you now." He whispered to Tree, "Muggle." Tree understood. He was prepared to be the best Christmas tree Sev ever remembered having.

When Toby reached the bottom of the steps he noticed the tumbler in his son's hand. Instead of the reproach he expected, Toby came out with, "That's a good lad. Remembering to water the tree."

Severus wondered why Tobias hadn't remembered. Something else took the boy's mind off that question.

Instead of his usual work pants, tee shirt, and soccer jacket Toby wore out to the pubs, Toby had come downstairs in a sky blue double breasted suit. Severus couldn't remember his dad ever looking that spiffy. Before the boy could comment on his father's transformation, he was bowled over by how his mother looked. Eileen was in a rather short, sleeveless, dress in bright pink, red, and two different shades of green colors that comprised a geometric pattern that looked like large leaves. The boy didn't know it but the pattern was know as Pucci-style. She had done her hair up and didn't look as 'gawky' as she normally did.

"Mum," Severus said in awe. "You look . . ." He didn't know how to put it. "Like you should be on television or something."

"See, I told you this dress would be fine," Eileen said to Tobias.

Tobias seemed to have thought otherwise. "Still going to be bloody cold."

Mrs. Snape took a large sigh and headed for a closet near the front door. "You see dear, they have invented these wonderful things called coats." With that she pulled out a long cream colored camelhair coat. Severus snickered. Toby gave him a warning look, but didn't say anything. He went to the closet and took out his old reliable soccer jacket.

"Toby," Eileen scolded. "You're not going to ruin how good you look by putting that thing on."

Thinking himself clever, Toby answered her back in as smarmy a tone as she had used when talking about the invention of coats. "Thought maybe you wouldn't want the boy to freeze in the car."

Lips pursed together knowing she was being a bit harsh, Ele let out an, "Oh."

The man's jacket engulfed the boy. "What ya think of that?" Toby asked. "Like to wear your old man's jacket?"

It was one of those rare moments when Severus felt as if he were accepted by his father, as if he had a real dad. "Yeah Dad, I like it." The boy's fingers played across the zipper track on the jacket's lapel.

Finding this an irresistible opportunity to yank the boy's chain, Toby came out with, "I don't know if I should let you wear it. You told your mum she looks like she belongs on Tele. What about me?" He feigned insult.

To Tobias' surprise the little one complemented, "You look good too. You look like . . ." Toby would have preferred if his son had said, 'gangster,' but he could live with, "Like a rock singer."

The part of Toby that loved to antagonize people, Sev most of all, wanted to keep badgering 'the boy.' He thought on what Ele had said earlier about it being Christmas time and not spoiling it for their son. Toby's not wanting to argue with Eileen outweighed his desire to tease Severus. He was also worried that a certain object of his wife's was due to be returned. He had not outright counted the days, but he knew it would be soon. It wasn't only the threat of the bad things she could do to him with the wand, but the promise of some good things she could do with it as well. If he behaved, maybe she'd brew some of that Pleasure Potion that had blown his mind more than any of the drugs he'd ever taken. Unlike those, the potion only worked when Ele did her bit as well. That was one of the reasons he didn't run off on her and the boy. What Eileen lacked in the looks department, she made up for in 'talent.' For that, he'd behave himself for a few days. "Rock singer eh?" Toby actually ruffled his son's hair.

"Aye." Severus was beaming up at his father.

"Good 'nuff."

Eileen looked as if she was as happy as she could look. She was. Toby was being decent, as decent as he could be, and Severus was happy, as happy as he could be. It was Christmas Eve and the Snapes were going to be a family. "Come on then," she said while wiping a joy tear off her cheek. "Lets get going."

Joe's dog, Bengi, always came round from behind the bar when Eileen arrived for work. Ele had a soft spot for the pooch and so kept a little treat in her purse or coat pocket for him. Tonight was no exception. Toby said nothing but did give his wife a dirty look as she tossed a small cube of ham for the dog. Toby did not like dogs, so there would be no treat from him. There would be no treat from Severus either, but Bengi remembered the little boy from the first time he'd been in the pub. This time Sev was not invisible, so it didn't look odd when the mutt put his paws on the boy's chest and began licking his face in greeting.

"Don't let that thing do that to you. Boy," was Toby's immediate reaction.

"He's just playing Dad," Sev giggled as Bengi continued. "He's just saying hello in dog talk."

"It's bloody disgusting it is." It was not just the dog slobbering that bothered Toby. The idea that someone might hear his son suggest that there was such a thing as 'dog talk' irked the man. He knew at the age Severus was he could say it was childish imaginings. Toby's mind was always on the future. A few years more and he'd have to be explaining why a teenager thought dogs could talk. Then again, Toby knew Severus could hear all manner of things that weren't supposed to talk, talking. "Shoo you mutt." The dog took the hint. If the beast's owner hadn't been within view, Toby would have done more than shoo Bengi away.

"Ello, ello, ello," Joe greeted cheerily than the already cheery man normally did. "Didn't know you was bringing in round the family Eileen. The more the merrier."

"Yes Joe," Ele said; a smile on her face. "That's what I thought." Still she leaned into her husband to whisper in Toby's ear, "Just not too merry, you remember."

Toby grumbled out a, "Yes Dear."

"So," the pub owner began talking as he crouched down a little to be the same height as Eileen's son. "This is the infamous Severus we always hear about." A slight glimmer of panic crossed Sev's face as he wondered, 'What are they always hearing about?' The boy's fear was allayed by Joe's next sentence. "You go sit over there." Joe indicated a round table where three boys and four girls already sat. "That's the table of honor. For all the kids of them what work here."

Seeing that many kids all in one place made Severus nervous. He wasn't usually around that many kids at one time except when he was being chased by the neighborhood thugs. "I'd rather play with Bengi."

The dog had heard his name, so he peeked around from the back of the bar where he'd retreated after Toby's rebuke. He still didn't leave his safe spot. His owner was scratching what hair he had left. "Odd." Joe pondered. "You're boy knows his name and all."

Eileen explained that away. "Oh. I've told him all sorts of stories about Bengi."

Believing the fib Joe encouraged Severus again. "Don't worry, they're nice kids like you." Sev wondered how Joe knew he was a nice kid. "They ain't snooty or nothing. Snooty kids' parents don't bring them round here." This seemed to make sense to Sev. "And as soon as you sit with the others, I'll bring over a root beer."

The boy gave the old man a worried look. Eileen had an idea what was in her son's mind. She went down on one knee to whisper in his ear, "It's a kind of soda pop. It's not the kind of beer Daddy has."

"Oh," the boy quietly uttered.

"Now go join the other kids and have some fun."

Slowly, observantly, Severus walked towards the indicated table. 'Muggles all,' the little wizard thought. 'How does Mum expect me to have fun with a pack of Muggles?'

tbc


	45. Fun and Games

Wonderful chapter 42

Fun and games

Good to his word, Joe brought over a mug containing a dark colored drink over to Severus. The little wizard sat there at the table of Muggle children who had mugs of their own in various states of empty or fullness. Not touching the mug, Severus took a sip of the liquid that was under the head of foam. A smile spread across his face and he unconsciously said, "An infusion of sassafras root." Luckily none of the other kids took note of this. Sev continued to sip the root beer from where the mug sat on the table. He looked around at the Muggle children. He was glad they were mostly as young as himself. The older kids seemed to be at another table, except for one older boy sitting with the younger. For this reason Severus kept an eye on that one. His wariness was not unwarranted.

After a few sips, Sev felt it was safe to reach out for some of the half eaten treats; A handful of popcorn, a handful of crisps, a handful of tiny chocolate bits. Being preoccupied by the treats he only half noticed one of the boys from the older kids' table march up to the one older boy at the little kids' table.

"Sitting with the babies Barney?" The boy said before bumping into the boy called Barney making the soda in front of him wobble at the edges of the mug, but not spill out.

"D-Don't call me Barney," the boy nervously stood up to the bully. "My name is Barnard, not Barney."

"Whatever you say, Barney."

This exchange made Severus nervous. This was how Toby acted before something worse was on the way. Instead of the something worse, the boy looked around the table and laughed before chortling, "Barney and the babies," and walked back to his table in obvious awe of the other older kids.

One of the girls who's age seemed to be a few years older than Sev, but a few years younger than the bullied boy, lay a kindly hand on Barney's arm as he sat there embarrassed. "Don't let that thug Mike bother you, Barnard," she said. This made Barnard smile.

The threat of danger over, Severus went back to sipping his soda. There was a part of him that felt bad for 'Barney'. There was another part that thought he should have knocked this fellow Mike on his fanny. He didn't like being lumped in with the Muggles as one of the 'babies' either. These thoughts fled from his head when Joe announced that there was to be some games in which the winner of each would get prizes. To be fair, Joe had arranged a prize for the younger players and the older players of each game. Some of the games were those of skill, some were of luck. As the smaller kids lined up for the first game, Severus saw his mother looking at him from where she and his father sat. He knew what she was thinking, even if he couldn't hear it, '_no magic_.'

Waiting anxiously in the line to play the first game Severus was certainly not intending to use magic, but as all of the wizarding world knew, sometimes magic just happened.

The first of these games was simple enough. There was a milk bottle on the floor. Each child was handed five clothes pins and they were to drop them in an attempt to get them inside the mouth of the bottle. This proved more difficult than imagined for the first girl who only got one inside.

"Okay," Joe bellowed out. "There's your mark to beat. Jenny has one."

'I can do better than that,' Sev thought to himself.

As the adults were letting the girls go first, the next player was the girl who had comforted the bullied boy at the table. She got three in. "Kate has three, that's the number to beat now," Joe announced as if it were as important as the outcome of a Derby.

Of the next two girls one got none, and the other got two. "Let's see if the boys can do any better," Joe continued as the boy closer to Sev's age stepped up to play. "Sorry girls, looks like the boys have taken the lead. Harvey's gotten four." Now it was Severus' turn. "Think you can beet that Severus?" Joe asked. Sev nodded nervously as he was handed the clothes pins. He was hoping he at least matched it. He didn't want to be beaten in a game of skill by a girl. The first pin shook nervously in little Snape's hand as he aimed with utmost concentration. Like a missile it went right in the bottle though at first Sev was sure it was off course. It took less time for him to aim the next one. In it went. The third went in, and the fourth. By the time of the fifth one he was barely looking where he was dropping it. "Whoa," Joe commented. "Toby, you need to sign your boy up for the dart team." Severus blushed with this statement. "Well that's the winner for the younger ones," the bar owner declared and handed the boy a colorfully wrapped object that Severus didn't recognize. It looked to him like a gigantic piece of candy.

While Joe was fixing the game to be harder for the older kids, the winner of the little kids category was running over to where his parents were sitting. Ignoring the fact that his father was nursing the one beer he had been allowed, he asked his mother, "Can I eat it now?"

"How'd ya know it's something to eat before you open it?" Toby answered before Ele could say anything.

"It's candy, isn't it?"

"Could be," Ele answered. "Could be something else."

"Daft boy doesn't even know it's a Christmas Cracker," Toby couldn't resist putting in.

"And where would he have seen one before?" Ele was trying not to be annoyed at Toby, but Toby was making it hard. "You take one end," She fixed the paper in her son's hand. "And I take the other, and we pull . . ." The loud bang made Severus jump. His initial shock was replaced by glee at the sight of about ten pieces of candy and just as many molded plastic animals that had fallen out of the cracker.

"You can eat one of the candies now," Eileen told her son. "I'll hold on to the rest until we get home."

Popping the sweet into his mouth, Severus turned back to the games. The older kids, who were ten to twelve years old were standing on a bar stool making it a yard further for them to drop the clothes pins into the milk bottle. It looked like the boy Barnard was in the lead with four. The bully Mike was now truing to duplicate Severus' five, but his last one went awry. "Well," Joe announced. "It looks like we've got to have a tie breaker." He indicated to Barnard he should climb back up onto the bar stool.

"Barney should have played with the babies," Mike could be heard to say behind him.

"You best keep your tongue in yer mouth Mike Stone. You shouldn't rightfully be here, but I promised your dad I'd keep you out of trouble. Keep it up and you'll not be included."

Mike made a face, but he didn't huff off or say he didn't want to be included in the kids games. Barnard got only three this time, but it was enough to win. Mike only got two.

"And the second winner is Barnard," Joe said as he handed another cracker to the older boy.

Severus wondered what would be inside that one, as Barney looked a bit old to be playing with plastic animals. "Kate," Barnard asked the girl, "Will you take the other end of the cracker? You can have half."

Kate smiled and tugged on the cracker. There was another bang and candy along with something else fell to the floor. The crackers for the older kids had pound coins in them. From the look and sound about five. Severus saw the boy called Mike step on one of the coins as Barnard and Kate picked them and the candy up while giggling. True to his word Barnard gave half of the candy to Kate. "Then there's two pounds for you." He handed one more to the one Kate had picked up. "And two for me."

"Look around a bit," Joe instructed on hearing this. "There should be one more in that one."

Barnard and Kate looked around on the floor not finding it.

"You won't find it," Severus spoke up. "If he's standing on it." He pointed at Mike. If there was one thing Severus couldn't stand, even then, it was a cheat. He was about to find out what a lot of people couldn't stand, even if he had done the right thing.

"Little tattle tale," Mike growled at Severus after being made to move his foot off of the coin.

"All right you," Joe told Mike. "You're out of the next game."

Mike made another face and went back to the older kids table. One of the other bar tenders that worked for Joe brought something out from behind the bar for the next game before removing the milk bottle, clothes pins, and the bar stool. The something the man had brought out was a short board and a cylinder which the board was placed on. "The object of this," Joe informed. "Is to balance, then go from one side to the other, staying on as long as you can."

Again this was something that Severus had never seen before. Apparently Jenny hadn't either. She couldn't even balance on it. Despite this first bad going, the other three girls seemed to be very adept at it. Kate was the best of them at this game as well. Now it was Severus' turn. He was not going to have as much luck with this one. He placed his right foot on the board, but when his left went up, the rest of him went down. There was a loud "Oooh," as the boy thudded to the wooden floor.

"All right there Sev?" Joe asked the dizzy boy.

Sev nodded as Joe hoisted him back to a standing position. "Your turn Kenny," Joe told the other little boy. Kenny did better than Severus, but not as good as Kate. "The winner is, Kate." Joe went to where he was keeping the crackers. He seemed to know which ones had what in them by the colors. Inside of this one, as the others, was candy, and a silky scarf with flowers on it that only a girl would have liked. "Wow, thank you Joe," the polite girl said as she wrapped it around her neck.

As this skill was hard enough, the older kids had no extra handicap put on them. Most of the older kids could stay on very long, but Barnard failed as miserably as Severus had. Mike was over at the older kids' table snickering. The winner of the older kids' round seemed to be a friend of Mike. He let the trouble maker pull the other end of his prize cracker. Again candy and coins fell out. Looking at Mike, the winner let him have one of the coins. Narrowing eyes on Mike's face made the winner hand over another one before moving away from his 'friend.'

There were five more games. Severus didn't win any more of them, but he was having so much fun, it didn't bother him. After that they entire pub began singing Christmas carols as a lady with glasses played an old clunky piano in a corner. During this part of the party, Severus sat in his mother's lap almost falling asleep. He didn't know many of the carols, but he liked to hear them. Eileen was most enthusiastic. It surprised her son. He didn't remember her singing too much around the house, but this was Christmas. All sorts of wonderful things happened on Christmas. When Tobias was not singing, Eileen would elbow him and Mr. Snape caroled as well.

During one song, _'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear,' _Ele began to sniffle.

When he saw tears rolling down her cheek, her son asked, "Mum, what's wrong"

"Nothing," Ele said with a long sniff. "Just remembering." She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. In-between the songs there was talking and clinking of glasses. Severus asked again, "Remembering what?"

"When . . ." Sniff. "I . . ." Sniff. "Was a girl."

The next song that started up was _'Jingle Bells_,' which didn't have the same effect on Eileen. A few songs along though, she was sniffling again. This time the concerned boy asked, "Did something sad happen at Christmas when you were a girl, Mum?"

This question startled Eileen back out of the tears. "No," she said with a look of curiosity on her face. "No, Sev. Christmases were very happy when I was a girl."

"Then why are you crying?" It didn't make sense to the boy.

"Because girls cry when they're happy too," Toby interjected an explanation.

"They do?"

Eileen had to admit, "Yes, we do."

After the last song, Joe announced there would be a complementary buffet of more substantial food that night as he and one of the other men rolled in a long table of food from the back. "Merry Christmas everyone," Joe said beaming with holiday spirit. "And don't forget, there's going to be a special guest a little later on. He's very busy, but he promised to pop in for an ale."

There was an intake of breath from all of the little kids. They knew who that guest was going to be. Sitting in Eileen's lap, Severus was no exception. He added the whisper of, "Father Christmas."

"Well, we better get up to that buffet," Toby said. "Before the fat man gets here." Toby joined the line already forming at the table of food. The chance to get plenty of anything free was the best thing to Toby. At the end of the table there were complementary glasses of cheep sparkling wine, Joe wasn't about to give out champagne. Toby had had his one beer, but he wasn't going to pass up the free drink. The sour look that Eileen gave him didn't change his mind. "It's Christmas," he bemoaned as she and Severus passed him by on the way to the food. Ele shook her head in aggravation. 'If he has anything more than that,' she told herself, 'I'll hex his hair off.'

tbc


	46. Yule Be Happy

I just discovered on rereading my chapters, that I made a mistake about when Eileen got or hadn't got her wand back. Will fix later.

Wonderful

Chapter 43

Yule Be Happy

Fed and watered, the guests of the Serpent's Tongue were all content, except for the youngest. There was one more thing that all of them were waiting for. They did not have long to wait. Close to seven o'clock a man dressed in red and white, with long white hair, and a long sliver beard, came bounding into the pub. "Ho, ho, ho," the man bellowed.

Toby took this opportunity to polish off what was left on the buffet table.

Most of the children called out, "Father Christmas!" The Muggles didn't even notice that this man was a bit thin to be Santa. While the other children ran towards the man, Mike Stone stayed put, being too old and 'worldly' to believe. One other boy didn't run to Father Christmas. Severus ran to his mother.

"Mum," he whispered. "That's not Father Christmas."

Eileen knew her son would not be fooled. Not because he didn't believe, but because he recognized the man for who he really was. At least it wasn't a Muggle pretending to be Father Christmas. The question she knew he was forming came out. "Why is Fessor Dumbdoor pretending to be Father Christmas?"

Mrs. Snape was wondering that herself. A friend of Joe's, named Tripper, was supposed to be playing Santa. She couldn't help wonder if it wasn't a coincidence that her old teacher was there instead. She told her son, "I expect the real Father Christmas is busy flying about, leaving presents all over the world. I suppose he's somewhere around Australia about now. It's Christmas there before here."

"That's not fair."

Meanwhile, the fake Father Christmas, who was a real wizard, was making gifts appear out of nowhere. This impressed the Muggle children to no end. Even Mike Stone was trying to figure out how the old man was doing the trick.

"Don't worry," Ele reassured Sev. "The real Father Christmas will find our house." Severus didn't look convinced. His mother pointed out, "That doesn't mean you can't get a present now."

"S'pose," Sev mumbled. He waited until all the Muggle children had gone off to open their boxes.

"Ah, Severus," Dumbledore, a.k.a. fake Santa, said as he winked. "Didn't know you would be here."

The little wizard frowned and said skeptically, "You know we live near here." That was not really what Sev was wondering. "Why are you doing magic in front of Muggles? Pretending to be Father Christmas."

"I'll tell you a secret," Dumbledore whispered. Then he knelt down to Severus' height. "I like to help Father Christmas out because Christmas Eve is the only time I can use magic in front of Muggles."

The boy wondered at this. He had never heard, or read, anything saying that Christmas was any exception to the statute of secrecy. Dumbledore added, "Christmas Eve is a magic night for everyone."

"Even Muggles?"

"Even Muggles. And little wizards." A box wrapped in Christmas paper appeared in Dumbledore's hands. "This one is for you."

"But you said you didn't know I was going to be here."

"Then it's a good thing I can do magic, isn't it?" He held the present out for the boy. He could tell the boy really wanted to take the gift, but something was holding him back. "It really is for you." The boy took the box and was retreating back to his mother again.

"Dumbdoor says this is for me."

"Then it must be. Open it up."

"What if it's something the Muggles shouldn't see?"

"I don't think he'd give you something Muggles shouldn't see in a pub packed with Muggles."

The boy finally felt safe to tear the paper off, and flip up the flaps of the box. Inside were some Muggle coloring books, and Muggle crayons. A big box of Muggle crayons. On closer inspection Severus saw that even though they were Muggle books, the subjects of them were as close to wizard things as one could get in the Muggle world. What Muggles would call 'make believe.' The one that caught the boys attention was one entitled, Mythical Beasts. He knew this was the Muggle version of Magical Creatures. As Severus suspected there were quite a few scenes of unicorns to be colored in.

"Look Mum." Severus held up a picture of a baby unicorn. "It's Sharpie."

Another of them was entitled, Legends of Great Britain. Sure enough, Sev found a picture of Merlin in it. When he turned to thank Dumbledore, he saw that the old wizard was talking to, of all people, Mike Stone. Severus thought better of going anywhere near that kid. He went back to the table to begin coloring in one of the pictures.

The son of the neighborhood thug had approached the fake Santa to find out, "What's the trick?"

"Trick?" Dumbledore played dumb. "Father Christmas knows what children want for Christmas."

"Then where's mine?"

Dumbledore produced a flat rectangular box with no wrapping, or writing on it. Mike opened it at one end, and thought he saw what he actually had been thinking about. He slid it out to find it was a solid milk chocolate pistol. He gave an odd look to the fake Santa. It was a cross of being surprised how close it was to what he had been thinking of, and disappointment at it not being the real thing.

"If you think I was going to give you the genuine article, you're not a very bright lad."

Mike bit the muzzle end off of the chocolate gun. "I'll get one soon enough." Mike went back to the table he had been sitting at.

"I hope not," Dumbledore said under his breath. Before anyone noticed, the fake Father Christmas was gone. He had not apparated, he was just good at sneaking away while no one was looking. Out in the alleyway he told himself, "Well, that was fun." Sure there were no Muggles around, he apparated back to Hogwarts.

Back in the pub Severus was telling his mother, "If this is what I get from someone pretending to be Father Christmas, I can't wait to see what the real one brings."

Eileen smiled. She knew that this year her son would be happy. She went up to where Toby was still stuffing his face with free food. "Joe's going to ask the kids to leave soon," she told him. "Why don't you go a little early. Get a head start on you know what."

"S'pose," Toby said with a mouth full of lemon tart.

"I can't wait to see the look on Sev's face tomorrow morning."

Toby swallowed. "uh huh."

Ele wanted to ask her husband why he couldn't show at least a glimmer of Christmas spirit, but she figured he had done his part by getting the bike. If he knew what was good for him, he'd have it built before she got home. She leaned in, giving him a kiss. "See you later."

Toby raised his eyebrows several times. "Later." He went over to where Severus was still coloring. "Let's get going. Kid's are gonna be kicked out in a few minutes. And you need to be asleep in bed when Father Christmas gets to our house."

The boy grabbed up his new crayons and coloring books, packed them back in the box, and tucked the box under his arm. He was convinced if his dad was talking about Father Christmas, maybe this year he would find their house again.

Late that night, Eileen came home to a lot of banging, and muttering. "You stinking piece of . . ." She feared the worst. Had Toby been harassing their son all night? It was not as she feared. Tobias was having a rough time putting the bike together. He was taking the wench to it in frustration when his wife spotted him.

"Good grief," Eileen huffed. "All the noise your making, you'll wake up Sev."

"Nah, I told him if he came out of his room, I'd deck Father Christmas."

"You didn't."

"Okay, I didn't, but I told him he best stay up there, and not peek."

Eyes rolled on Ele's face. Her wand came out. It was the bike she used it on, not Toby. "There. Now put it under the tree. You can handle that, can't you?"

"Aye," Toby grumbled before putting the bike under the tree. "Didn't notice I wrapped up all those other ones, did-ya?"

"I actually hadn't." She took a breath and seemed to ease up. "You did surprisingly well."

"So, where's the magic stuff?"

"The owls should be bringing a few things around midnight." Just as she said this there was a thud at the door. Eileen opened it up to find a box just outside. She could see an owl flying off. "Better keep it open for a bit." Over the next few minutes about twenty owls flew threw the door depositing various sized boxes next to the tree.

"How much did you buy the kid?" Toby's tone was not enthusiastic.

"Not all of them are for Sev."

"Oh."

Ele looked as if she were expecting something else. "It's a good thing wizarding establishments deliver up till dawn on Christmas." Then there was a huge package carried by four owls. They did not drop this by the tree, but in the kitchen.

"What's that?"

"Something to go along with that shriveled turkey defrosting in the sink."

"Wha'd you buy it with?"

"Joe isn't as much a skinflint as Mr. Leech." Ele gave Toby a 'so there' look. "I was also lucky they agreed to take Muggle money. I still have some connections in the wizarding world." Ele sat down on the sofa. She kicked off her shoes.

"Tired?" Toby asked.

"Yes." Ele stretched out her arms and yawned.

"Then let's get upstairs." Sleep was not what Toby had in mind. Ele knew it, but she had other ideas.

"I have to finish with the wrapping, and start with the cooking."

"That won't take long will it? You're going to magic it, aren't you?"

"I suppose it won't take more than an hour. Go ahead up. I'll be there later."

Toby, glad to be finished with his Christmas duties, did just that. He went upstairs. When Ele went up an hour later, expecting to find her husband ready to go, she was glad Toby was fast asleep, snoring away.

"Thank goodness. I need to sleep." As soon as her head hit the pillow she was snoozing too. It was hours, but it seemed only minutes before something jumped on top of Toby and Ele shouting, "Mum, Dad, Father Christmas was here!"

On any other day Severus' father would have smacked him one for just such a wake up. On a bad day he might have flung him against a wall. The boy had been so excited to see what was downstairs, that he forgot that. Toby was feeling so good, he forgot as well.

"Come on, come on," The boy was now on the side of the bed, tugging at his mother's hand.

"Hold on, hold on," she mumbled back. "Let me get a robe on. Don't expect me to celebrate Christmas in my nightie, do you?" The boy blushed at his mother's words. "You go downstairs, give us a minute to get decent. We'll be right down."

"Right down?"

"Right down."

The boy disappeared. His feet could be heard thumping down the stairs. "I'd like to see you celebrate Christmas in your nightie," Toby teased from his side of the bed.

"You would." Eileen had gotten up. She was reaching for her robe when Tobias tugged her back down to the bed by the strap of her nightgown.

"You mean to tell me, you wouldn't like to see me in front of the tree in my sleeping attire?"

Knowing that, under the sheets, her husband was a bare as the day he was born, she giggled at an image in her head of him posing in front of the tree that way. Then her sensible side answered, "Not on Christmas morning." She leaned over, and gave him a peck on the cheek before standing again.

"What about Christmas night?"

Ele threw Toby's robe at him, hitting his face. "That depends if you're a good boy."

With that, Toby was sliding out of the sheets and into his robe faster than he had any other morning. "Good as gold," he murmured to himself.

Downstairs Severus was having a hard time containing himself. He just knew that bike had to be for him. Of course he had seen Muggle children riding them about the neighborhood. It was to small for his father and his mother rode a broom. Still, it was the only gift that didn't have a name tag on it.

To keep himself from thinking about the bike, Sev began examining the boxes. Some had tags with his name on it. Some had tags that said Mum, or Dad. 'Father Christmas must have left some for them too.' Though he had never done so before, he wondered if he should have gotten something for his parents. 'Too late now.' He picked up one of the boxes that was meant for him and tried to guess what was inside. Boxes proved harder to see into than minds. He tried another, no better. One thing the bright boy did notice was that though both of the boxes he had picked up had his name written on the tags, they looked like two different handwritings. 'Elves must have wrote them.' Before Severus could ponder this anomaly any further, his parents were down the stairs.

"Go ahead, open one," Eileen gave permission. In a instant the paper was gone, and the lid of a box was off. This was one of the things Ele had gotten for her son. It was a toy cauldron. Inside of it were some brightly colored powders in individual vials. They were all together in a plastic bag labeled, 'My First Brewing Kit.' Severus' eyes widened, but as usual, he had a question. "Mum, this cauldron is plastic. It will melt."

"It's plastic young man, because wizard or not, just about to be seven year olds don't play with fire."

The boy looked as if he wanted to play with fire. He still said, "Oh." He examined the kit closer. Basically all one had to do to use it was, add water. It really was for kids, all be it wizarding kids. Adding the brightly colored powder to water made brightly colored sweet drinks akin to Cool-Aid, but in wizarding flavors: Pumpkin; Bat's Blood, which was really black licorice; Dragon's blood, that too was not the real thing but a very hot cinnamon: Troll Boggies, which was Kiwi, and other such things.

"Here's another." Ele handed Severus one of the boxes that Toby had bought.

While their son was opening his second present, Toby joked, "What about mine?"

Rolling her eyes at Toby's constant attempts at humor, she took up her wand and with a flick a coffee pot and two mugs flew in from the kitchen. "This'll do for now. I want Sev to open a few of his first."

Toby had been teasing, and was happy with his mug of coffee. Severus was now holding up a black stick with a white tip. He asked, "What's this?"

Any Muggle kid would have know. "It's a magic wand," Toby answered. "Thought you wanted your own."

"S'not a wand," the boy insisted.

Eileen knew Tobias was trying. The gesture was a large one coming from him. She pointed out, "It's a make believe magic wand."

"Oh." Sev was beginning to wonder if everything he got from Father Christmas was going to be make believe. He guessed it would be good for pretending. He gave it a wave. Imagination would have to help him out. Nothing magic was going to come out of that wand.

"Okay, Daddy next." Ele got a box that had Toby's name on it.

"Father Christmas didn't have to . . ." Toby was saying before Ele put a finger up to her lips to tell him to hush.

At first both his son and wife thought Tobias Snape might show a glimmer of an emotion coming close to happy. He looked a little bit choked up. "How good of Father Christmas to get me a watch just like the one I lost." This statement was for Eileen. It was she, not Father Christmas who had retrieved it from the pawn shop.

"Let's hope you don't 'loose' this one," Ele added.

Now Toby looked as if he were contemplating the fact that he hadn't gotten anything for Ele. 'Blimey,' he thought to himself. 'She said get the stuff for the kid, so I got the stuff for the kid. I forgot all about her.'

With good timing, Severus grabbed a box marked for her. "Mum, You open one."

She couldn't fake surprise as she was the one who had gotten her gift as well. She could however imitate her husband. "How good of Father Christmas to get me the exact same bracelet I had to sell a while back." She put on the emerald stone bracelet.

Feeling a bit more uncomfortable, Toby shifted his weight. "Let's hope you don't have to sell those."

"Let's hope." Eileen's eyes narrowed, then she went back to cheery. "Open another one Sev."

tbc


End file.
